


Kismet and the Art of Spaceship Maintenance

by Haggis (Karen121968)



Series: Dr Who Stuff [2]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Big Finish Audio, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-01-18 19:52:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 79,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12395040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karen121968/pseuds/Haggis
Summary: Usual caveats in one of my fanfics, beginning with the things I know nothing about - concussion, broken ribs, meteorite trajectories, the depth of peat bogs and how amenable Finns are to following signs.While writing this I remembered a couple of cute touches from other stories I’ve read in this fandom so if you first suggested that Kate or Os would be fans of the Carry On movies then please remind me of your name and I’ll give you proper kudos and high fives here. There is also a vague memory of a pineapple pizza popping up as well so let me know if that’s yours too.This story assumes some passing knowledge of the Big Finish New UNIT audio dramas as some of their secondary characters are mentioned here. While I’m sure Josh Carter is a perfectly nice bloke he does grate on my nerves a little so he doesn’t fare terribly well in this story, however he doesn’t get permanently removed from the Unit-verse either.I was halfway through writing this before I noticed I’d written another Kate/Os fic where Kate is fairly regularly incapacitated. I adore Kate and would never wish her harm but I am closer in age to her and my aches and pains may be informing some of the situations she finds herself dealing with.





	1. Norfolk & London

Kate couldn’t stop the groan this time, one pothole too many and why on earth hadn’t someone invented decent suspension for the military!

Osgood looked over at her boss again, she was definitely in pain and her renowned “stiff upper lip” was clearly becoming limp. To be fair they had been battling an invading force for 36 hours straight and everyone was battered and bruised physically and mentally. However nobody else felt the need to be stoic about it, several of the soldiers around her had already succumbed to painkillers and were sleeping off their injuries in whatever position they could reasonably find comfortable.

Kate breathed as shallowly as she could, holding her knees to her chest and resting her forehead on her knees. She was fairly sure that she had cracked a rib or two in the last phase of the battle. Remembering the last 20 minutes of the firefight, unfortunately, caused her lungs to remember the noxious gas that the aliens had dispersed in a last ditch effort to grasp victory. She tried to stop a cough that rose up, she really did, but when it forced its way out she gasped as her ribs began seriously complaining.

Osgood grabbed her bag and precariously stood up, motioning one of the soldiers to swap places with her. He glanced at Kate and nodded, leaving his jacket on the floor as some cushioning for Osgood and nudging a colleague to hand his over for Kate. Osgood smiled and said thanks to both of them quietly and waited for the truck to complete a left turn before sinking down beside her boss. “You should have taken the chopper, ma’am” she whispered and laid her hand gently on Kate’s shoulder.

“I’m fine” Kate bit out, a lot more harshly than she meant. “Sorry” she mumbled and carefully raised her head to glance at her assistant. “Are you OK?” she realised she hadn’t even asked when they were arranging transportation back to base, she’d just insisted on traveling with the UNIT section and Osgood in the truck.

“Ma’am I was in the chopper coordinating the placement of the neutralisers, I wasn’t anywhere near the actual battle or the gas attack” Osgood shuddered, she was so glad she’d overcome her fear of flying in a helicopter to avoid the gas. The hour of decontamination and tests before they knew the gas had completely dispersed and everyone would be OK had seemed never-ending.

“Good” Kate managed what she thought was a pretty convincing smile before lowering her spinning head back onto her knees.

“You have a concussion and I’m guessing some compromised ribs as well, I can ask the driver to stop so that we can transfer you to one of the ambulances?” Osgood knew there was no way that Kate would agree to riding back in an ambulance but she felt she had to make the effort. The shake of the head was only discernible by the movement of the straggly blonde hair. “OK, I didn’t think that would work” Osgood admitted and heard a chuckle followed by a wince. “Let me help you then?” she waited.

Kate slowly took a couple of medium breaths and then raised her head enough to see Osgood, even if she was a bit blurry. “Did you invent something to fix cracked ribs and headaches?” she croaked.

“Actually I was thinking a bundled up jacket for you to sit on and some paracetamol” she reached into her bag and pulled out the strip of basic painkillers. “We can’t really risk anything else I’m afraid until they check you out at the Tower”

Kate grimaced and slowly leaned back, resting against the metal side of the truck. “I don’t think I can stand up without throwing up” she admitted quietly.

“OK, let’s keep standing, moving and vomiting to a minimum” Osgood suggested and shuffled around to create some space to her left, bundling one of the jackets between her back and the box of equipment to give her some cushioning. Stretching her legs out in front of her she moved her satchel to rest under her knees and checked her pockets to make sure everything she’d need was in her left-hand pocket. “Can you slide down a bit and put your head here?” she placed the second rolled up jacket on her lap.

Kate slowly looked at Osgood’s lap and her eyes traveled back up to squint at her. “You want me to lie down with my head on your lap?” she asked incredulously.

“I don’t want you to damage your ribs anymore and sitting like that isn’t helping them” Osgood explained patiently. “This way you can lie on your back and I’ll try to keep your head steady”

Kate would have shaken her head but she was fairly sure her eyeballs would take a week to stop rattling if she tried. “Not necessary,” she said as definitively as she could.

“Do you know why I was so happy to get my Greyhound codename back this time?” Osgood asked, leading up gently to her winning card. She waited for Kate to squint at her even more adorably. “Because it means I’ll be listened to when I tell the driver to stop the truck and call in another chopper to take you straight to hospital” she smiled sweetly and maintained eye contact.

Kate blinked slowly “You wouldn’t” she stated as confidently as she could.

“Noisy emergency air evac to the nearest neurotrauma unit” Osgood started to grin, she could see Kate’s resistance disappear. “Now wouldn’t it be quieter and easier to just lie down and let someone look after you for a change?”

Kate sighed and lowered her back towards the floor of the truck. “I preferred it when you were too shy to speak to me” she muttered as Osgood gently placed her hands on her shoulders to guide her down.

“That’s it, slowly,” Osgood said under her breath and glanced around to make sure nobody was taking undue notice of them. She hadn’t really thought this through but the plan seemed sound and she would be able to assess Kate’s pulse and any head injuries without too much fuss.

Kate finally rested the full weight of her head on Osgood and sighed, slowly relaxing as much as she could to lessen the stress on her side and chest. “Thank you,” she said quietly but knew Osgood would hear.

“Nothing to thank me for ma’am, us scientists take care of our own you know” she smiled and raised one hand to hover over Kate’s head. “I’m just going to check for any head wounds, don’t jump if my hands are cold”

Kate raised her right hand and felt for Osgood, she didn’t want to open her eyes unless she absolutely had to. “I didn’t get hit or bang my head, just got a good rattle when the last ship exploded”

Osgood met the hand and squeezed it gently before lowering it back to rest on Kate’s stomach. To anyone watching them, it would look as if they were holding hands but she needed to check Kate’s pulse without unduly worrying anyone else. “Colonel Shindi said most of the section around you got flattened when the engines overloaded” 

Kate swallowed and concentrated on the warm fingers currently taking her pulse. “Should have asked for their MOT certificate before their surrender” she joked.

Osgood laughed and then winced as Kate groaned at the movement. “Sorry, did that move you too much?” she took Kate’s grunt as agreement. “No more jokes until you feel a bit better”

“Yes ma’am” Kate mumbled and concentrated on slow, even breathing. She could feel the rumble of the engine under her legs but still couldn’t hear anything that low frequency very well. She became aware of warmth settling around the hand that Osgood was still holding, fingers less tight around her wrist but a thumb was stroking the back of her hand in a very soothing motion. She focussed on the points where their bodies touched and started to relax to the point of sleep.

“Ma’am?” Osgood said quietly, worried at the silence from Kate when the truck hit another pot-hole. “Kate!” she said a little more loudly and the soldier nearest to them glanced around. She pushed her glasses up and nodded her head, letting him know that everything was OK, even if she wasn’t all that sure herself. “Kate you need to wake up, you can’t fall asleep” 

Kate finally roused from the dream when she felt a pinch on the back of her hand. “Ouch,” she croaked and tried to shake off the grip. “Os?” she asked weakly, disorientated and feeling light-headed.

“Kate it’s OK, I’m sorry I had to wake you” Osgood let go of Kate’s hand and gently brushed aside the fringe of hair to see her face more clearly. “Can you open your eyes for me?”

“Don’t want to “ Kate struggled to sit up before her ribs reminded her that she hadn’t fallen asleep on the sofa at home. “Bloody hell” she hissed and sagged back onto Osgood’s lap. 

“Kate I need you to tell me where you are” Osgood tried to remember all of the basic questions to ask someone who had suspected concussion.

“Not my sofa, that’s for sure” Kate mumbled before taking a careful breath in and slowly opening her eyes. “Spinny” she complained as she saw an upside down Osgood.

“I know, I’m sorry, it won’t be long now” Osgood checked both pupils to make sure they were reacting to the dim light. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her penlight and grimaced. “This is going to hurt but you need to keep your eyes open for me” she shone the light quickly into both eyes in succession, relieved to see the pupils reacting as she’d hoped. “Excellent” she clicked off the light and dropped it back into her pocket. “So where are we?” she asked again.

“Truck” Kate gritted her teeth to try to alleviate the pain from the sudden flashes of light. “Don’t do that again please?”

“I won’t, you just had me worried” Osgood ran her fingers through Kate’s hair, trying to offer what little comfort she could under the circumstances. “Do you remember what day it is?”

“No, do you?” Kate was calming down a little and her sense of humour seemed to be recovering before much else. “We left London on Tuesday so it must be Thursday or Friday”

“Good point” Osgood checked her watch, squinting at the dial. “It’s late Thursday” she confirmed. “Can you remember what happened?”

“Aliens, bad dress sense, wanted the planet, told them to bugger off” Kate summarised.

“Well the good news is that you don’t have too serious a concussion and you’ve already written your mission report” Osgood continued to soothe her fingers through Kate’s hair, managing to untangle several clumps of mud in the process.

“Bad news?” Kate, ever the pragmatist asked.

“You do have a concussion and I think you’ve either broken or cracked some ribs so you’ll be in a lot of pain for a while” 

“At least it’s not a compound fracture” Kate helpfully supplied her own diagnosis.

“Blast” Osgood stopped stroking Kate’s scalp and reached down to unzip her jacket. “I never even thought to check for broken bones before I moved you” she slid her hand inside the jacket and carefully ran it up first one side and then the other to make sure there weren’t any bones breaking through the skin.

Kate had too many things going through her mind to consider why this felt so good, the few brain cells assigned to think about it dismissed it as a false positive since nothing felt good right now. “Osgood” she waited until the hand moving over her ribs stilled. “The field medic checked us all out for broken bones or serious trauma before we even cleared decontamination”

“Oh,” Osgood noticed where her hand was and, more importantly, what she’d been doing. “I am so sorry ma’am, of course they did”

“How long till we’re back at the Tower?” Kate asked.

“Another hour I’m afraid” Osgood stretched her neck, she hadn’t been injured but this was an uncomfortable place to spend even 10 minutes.

“If you won’t let me sleep this off then we need to talk about something to keep me awake” Kate grumbled.

“We should have the secondary test results back on the composition of the gas by the time we get to the Tower, Colonel Shindi took samples with him” Osgood removed her hand carefully from inside Kate’s jacket.

“Not work, please” Kate groaned and tried to remember to apologise to Osgood when this was all over. 

“Not work” Osgood nodded and wracked her brain for something else. “Em…...what did you have in mind?”

“We’ve worked together for a few years now, there must be something else we have in common” Kate was bewildered why this was proving so difficult. “Chess club?” she eventually asked.

“Stopped going” Osgood shrugged. “How about your bridge club?”

“I seem to remember an email a while ago saying I’d been removed for non-attendance” Kate smiled. “We are a pair”

Osgood frowned “There must be something other than work we can talk about” she took this as a personal affront that she couldn’t come up with an answer.

“How is Captain Carter?” Kate was troubled at the suggestion that they were involved but she had heard unofficial rumours.

“He went with the Colonel in the chopper” Osgood answered without thinking, she was running through a list of hobbies that ‘normal’ people would have. “Movies!” she finally hit on a subject.

“Josh took you to the movies?” Kate was struggling to follow the conversation.

“What….no….why would he?” Osgood looked down as Kate looked back up at her, the need to avoid motion sickness overcome by the need to see each other properly. “Oh right, you’ve heard the rumours?” she shook her head. “There was an incident at the Antarctic base, just before it blew up” Osgood smiled gently. “I had a word when we got back to the Tower and he knows we’re just colleagues and friends”

Kate frowned “There isn’t any reason you couldn’t see each other, from the work point of view I mean”

“It wasn’t work” Osgood had returned her hand to Kate’s wrist without realising and her thumb had started to rub gently as well. “He’s not really my type” she admitted.

“He’s not a scientist” Kate sighed with as little movement of her rib cage as she could manage.

Osgood leaned down a little closer until she was near Kate’s ear “He’s a he” she whispered.

Kate’s eyebrows drew down into frown lines usually reserved only for politicians as she tried to translate the words into something she could understand. The contrast when they shot towards her hairline was comical and Osgood couldn’t stop laughing at the look on her boss’s face. “You…..?” Kate winced and tried to resettle before saying anything else.

“I mean a scientist would be nice as well, or at least someone smart who didn’t want to shoot things a lot” Osgood continued to let Kate absorb her news. She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d just come out to her boss but it had seemed like a good idea for the few seconds before she said it.

“Well yes, you definitely couldn’t be with someone who was stupid” Kate agreed.

“And it’s a bit of a cliche I suppose but a good sense of humour goes a long way” Osgood pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“Right, so a smart, funny woman then?” Kate said quietly, lifting a finger for each attribute.

“Well…..” Osgood debated saying any more, she was already dangerously close to maximum exposure.

“Is there a long list?” Kate smirked. 

“It’s just that the rest is kind of superficial and shallow” the younger woman mumbled. 

“I’m not going to set you up on a dating agency Osgood, just humour me with some more secrets” Kate lifted her left hand and rested it on top of Osgood’s hand where it still clasped hers. “And there is nothing at all wrong with having a phenotype, it’s basic human attraction”

“OK, Mrs. Biologist, what’s your type?” Osgood was enjoying being silly now that the world-ending danger had gone for a while. She usually rode this wave of euphoria on her own and it was nice to have someone to share it with.

“Ah well” Kate blushed and that definitely piqued the younger woman’s interest. 

“Ooohh is it someone we know?” Osgood excitedly whispered, subconsciously gripping Kate’s hand a little tighter.

“Sshh” Kate hissed and started to turn her head to see who was sitting nearby.

“Ah ah, no moving, remember?” Osgood settled both hands on the side of the blonde head, preventing her from moving and making herself nauseous again.

“Right, well not so bloody loud then” Kate huffed and blew her fringe out of her eyes where it had fallen. She smiled as Osgood returned one hand to move her fringe and scratch through her hair again. “That’s helping, thanks” she mumbled and struggled to keep her eyes open.

“So what’s your type then, mystery woman?” Osgood said more quietly. “What’s divulged in the uncomfortable army transport stays in the uncomfortable army transport” her tongue peeked out to wet her lip as she joked.

Kate followed the tongue’s appearance and disappearance and gulped. Suddenly this ‘getting to know you’ chat to distract her didn’t seem like such a good idea after all. “Well,” she hesitated before deciding on a tactic that should see her safely through this minefield. “Smarter than me and funny, obviously” 

Osgood nodded “That narrows it down a bit” she grinned.

“And I seem to prefer darker hair I suppose” Kate swallowed. “Your turn”

“Oh blonde hair, all the way” Osgood was enjoying herself, she didn’t have many female friends she could have these kinds of chats with. “And someone who looks after their figure, but not a gym bunny or anything because…” she gestured to her own body.

“Hey” Kate nudged Osgood’s knee with her elbow. “None of that”

“Yes ma’am” Osgood shook her head and reached for her inhaler, taking a puff before returning it to her pocket. “Sorry, it’s getting cold, do you want me to hunt up a blanket?”

“No, I’m fine thank you” Kate glanced up. “Do you need to get one for yourself?”

“Nope, I’m comfortable where I am and I don’t want to move you around too much since you threatened throwing up earlier” Osgood felt Kate relax a little more against her. “So where were we, oh yes, body type Dr. Stewart?”

“Well Professor Osgood” Kate desperately needed thinking time and it wasn’t just because her brains had been lightly scrambled earlier. She smiled at the huff of annoyance above her. “I don’t really have a preference although not too short, that’s a nightmare if you have a bad back”

“The Doctor looked a bit like you’re describing at one point, not the last one though” Osgood pondered if there was anyone else that she could think of to meet the requirements.

Kate closed her eyes and her inner monologue gave herself a good talking to about revealing any further details. Just at the point where she had decided to heed this good advice she felt Osgood touch her wrist again and gently scratch her scalp. “I’m awake” she almost groaned at how good that felt but managed to stop herself.

“OK, so favourite first date then” Osgood checked her watch, Kate’s pulse was relatively steady and a little slower than it had been when she’d first checked. She wanted to keep up the inane chatter until they were back at the Tower to give the older woman every chance to recover before she got grumpy with the UNIT medics.

“Honestly I’ve never been very good at first dates, I get too nervous” Kate admitted without filtering herself.

“You, nervous?” Osgood blinked. “You just literally told an invading alien horde to bugger off and leave the planet not two hours ago”

“Well yes but I didn’t have to try to impress them without intimidating them” Kate explained. “What would be your ideal first date?”

“Ah now, I’ve spent a bit of time researching this particular subject” Osgood sighed. “Not as much time researching second dates though”

“Your dates were idiots” Kate grumped. 

“Well I get nervous too, not such a surprise for me though, and then I ramble and it’s so hard to have rambling on a 5-second delay in your head so you can censor yourself from saying anything too alien-y” she explained.

“I just get quiet, for the same reason” Kate admitted. “I’m sure my dates think I’m very boring”

“Then they were idiots too” Osgood rubbed the back of Kate’s hand again. “OK, so what was the last movie you went to see?” she continued, not really wanting to spend any more time in the dangerous dating waters.

“Em...” Kate struggled to remember. “I’m sure Gordy and I went to see one of the Star Wars movies” she closed one eye, scrunching her face up in an effort to remember. “The one with Darth Vader in it” she seemed pleased to have remembered that much detail.

“That doesn’t narrow it down very much” Osgood complained. “How long ago?”

“Oh no wait, you only see the Vader chappy at the very end, when they put the helmet on” Kate grinned up at Osgood.

Osgood blinked at her in shock. “You haven’t been to see a movie since 2005?” 

“It can’t be that long, can it?” Kate looked doubtful.

“Well the movie you just described was Revenge of the Sith so, yeah 12 years ago” Osgood shook her head. 

“I sometimes watch a DVD at home, although I usually fall asleep before the end “ Kate acknowledged her tragic social life.

“OK, so you haven’t seen any of the Marvel or DC movies?” Osgood checked.

“I didn’t really fancy spending all day dealing with aliens and then watching them in the cinema, especially once Gordy moved out” Kate shrugged and twitched a little as her ribs reminded her of their opinion on sudden movements.

“Ah you see that’s the thing” Osgood knew she could easily keep this conversation going for ages without fearing that she’d tell Kate exactly what kind of blonde was her preference. “We spend all day under the Tower and use technology from other worlds or some really old, government issue tech from our own” she pointed at the boxes sitting behind her. “And we try to talk to aliens with jury-rigged inventions made out of random bits and pieces”

“We do need a bigger budget but you know what Geneva's like” Kate groused.

“No, I don’t mean that, I love the way we work” Osgood patted her hand before pushing her own glasses up where they were sliding down in her excitement. “When you go to see Iron Man or something it’s just laughable how out of touch they are with reality. I mean obviously everyone knows they’re fiction but not the same way we know they’re fiction” she gestured to everyone around them. “They are so ridiculous with their shiny armour and shields and building a power source out of thin air that it doesn’t feel like you’re at work, honestly” she looked down earnestly at Kate, who smiled back at her.

“I’ll take your word for it” Kate often wondered what it was that Osgood was so enthusiastic about the day that she realised she loved this young woman. The light in her eyes and her infectious delight in learning and problem solving were irresistible and the epiphany that day had stopped her breathing for a few moments.

“I’ll lend you the DVDs” Osgood was still in movie mode. “But you need to watch them in the correct order”

Kate grinned at the earnest look being directed at her. “Iron Man 1 then Iron Man 2, I think I can figure that out” 

Osgood pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. “I’ll give you a list” she replaced her glasses and shook her head.

“Or just watch them with me,” Kate said quietly, almost wishing it was only inside her head but a tiny part of her glad that she’d finally said something out loud.


	2. London & Finland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of their story, hopefully a little bit funny and sweet and getting towards earning the Mature rating in future chapters.
> 
> I wasn't sure of the professional titles that Kate and Osgood would have so picked a couple to let them have some science-banter :)

“Ma’am” the guard saluted as Kate walked through the door he held open for her. 

She smiled in acknowledgement and headed towards her office. It had been a frustrating week but the medical team had insisted she stay at home to recover from her injuries. “Osgood” she called as she caught sight of her disappearing round a corner. “Have you got 15 minutes this morning?”

“Ma’am” Osgood smiled as she turned back and walked towards her boss. “Good to have you back, I’m free now if you need me?”

“Thank you, I just want to catch up on what I’ve missed” Kate dumped her briefcase on her desk and hung up her coat.

“Let me grab some coffees while you log in” Osgood offered and headed towards the kitchen area.

An hour later they had gone through all of the reports from the incident where Kate had been injured. “I’m sorry I kept you this long” Kate apologised.

“It’s OK, I knew you’d want to see everything again, even though I know you were logged in from home while you were supposed to be resting” Osgood smiled and shook her head.

“Well I felt a lot better after the concussion wore off and emails don’t stress cracked ribs” Kate admitted. “Thank you for looking after me in the transport, again” she squinted up at Osgood as the younger woman stood to leave.

“It was my pleasure” Osgood shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not good for morale if the boss throws up all over the equipment” she smiled.

“Indeed” Kate shook her head. “I was thinking, last week” she ground to a halt, even after practicing her spontaneous offer several times that morning she was unsure of her plan of action.

“You think most weeks” Osgood folded her arms and waited for Kate to get to the point. Several months ago she’d have been blushing and eager to leave but once she’d admitted to herself that she was attracted to her boss she’d found it easier to cope with being in her presence. It wasn’t as if the attraction could go any further than friendship, some mild daydreams at work and some wildly inappropriate night dreams at home.

Kate frowned at Osgood’s ability to turn her into a stuttering teenager. “Very amusing” she muttered. “I was thinking that I could take you out to dinner, as a proper thank you for saving my blushes in front of the dogs” Now that she’d actually got the offer out she felt her usual confidence return. “After all, it will be nice to go out for dinner with someone where we don’t have to censor aliens from our conversation” she smiled in memory of the young woman’s admission.

Osgood squinted slightly and took her glasses off to clean. She remembered the conversation with Kate and her mention of censoring herself but that had been when they were discussing dates. Surely Kate just didn’t remember that part of the conversation, she had received the head injury after all. Nodding to herself in agreement with the conclusion she’d come to she put her glasses back on and looked up to see Kate sitting back in her chair, legs crossed and looking relaxed. “It’s not necessary to thank me but that would be nice” Osgood admitted as her mouth dried up a little and she swallowed and desperately tried not to focus on where Kate’s shirt was gaping a little.

Kate tilted her head slightly and wondered why Osgood had suddenly blushed. Before she could ask if everything was alright her phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID before looking back at Osgood. “I need to take this, can I email you later with some dates?”

“Yes ma’am” Osgood nodded and left the office at speed. She returned to her desk and stared into space for several minutes, trying to figure out what had changed in the final five minutes of their conversation. She had been aware of a subtle shift in the air in the room and logged into internal security to check that there wasn’t actually a sinister explanation. Chewing the inside of her cheek she opened a new document and began to note down some empirical evidence for her hypothesis.

Two hours later Osgood was looking at the reports from some alien artifacts her team was testing. She heard her phone ringing but let it go to voicemail. Twenty minutes later she heard someone clear their throat and looked up, startled to see Kate leaning in the doorway of her office. “Hello” Osgood sat back in her chair and ordered the reports into neater piles without even realising what she was doing. “Everything OK?” she hadn’t been alerted to anything out of the ordinary this morning so far.

“You weren’t answering your phone” Kate pointed at the flashing light indicating voicemail messages waiting to be retrieved. 

“Oh I’m sorry ma’am, I was engrossed and I didn’t even check to see who they were from” Osgood kept her gaze down, annoyed with herself.

“I guessed as much after two emails, three texts, and two unanswered voicemails asking you to call me urgently” Kate shook her head. “I need you to complete work on the Raven message delivery service, they generally wouldn’t be ignored” she smiled to let Osgood know that she was joking.

Osgood still hadn’t looked up at Kate, delving into her pocket instead to retrieve her phone and read the text messages. “You wanted to know if I had my passport with me?” she finally looked up. “It’s always here, I don’t travel unless it’s for work” she shrugged. “Do we need to go somewhere?”

Kate sighed and decided to tackle that nugget of information later. “The rest of the messages are our flight times and accommodation details” Kate stuck her hands in her pocket. “I’m afraid we leave at 6 pm tonight so you might want to head home to pack some warm clothes, enough for a week should do I think”

“Ma’am” Osgood quickly scrolled through the emails, gathering the basic information before looking back towards her boss. “I’ll be ready, is there anything from the special store you want me to pack?”

“Let’s just travel with the usual and we can get anything else we need transported once we’ve assessed the situation” Kate looked up and down the corridor before stepping into Osgood’s office and closing the door. “I’m sorry this messes up our dinner plans”

“Looks like this is more important” Osgood gestured to her screen which was currently showing her the video of the crater.

“Not more important” Kate shook her head. “Just more urgent I’m afraid”

“Well we will be away for a week, I’m sure there’ll be opportunities to eat at the same time?” Osgood smiled.

“Field rations or soggy sandwiches weren’t really what I had in mind but you’re right, we can call it a practice run for when we’re back here” Kate nodded and exited the office.

******************************************

They stepped off the light aircraft and blinked in the bright sunlight the next morning. It had been a long night of travel to the Finnish-Norwegian border and the drop in temperature was noticeable even at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Osgood pulled her collar more tightly around her neck, shivering as a gust of wind hit them just before they made it into the 4x4 waiting at the edge of the tiny airstrip. “I’m glad I packed my thermals” Kate muttered and blew into her cupped hands before putting her gloves back on. 

“I’m glad I’m wearing two pairs of socks” Osgood snuggled down into the neck of her woolly sweater.

Kate looked across and unzipped her jacket, the heating in the SUV had been on full blast in anticipation of their arrival. “I do love your sweater” she grinned as Osgood unzipped her own coat.

“Christmas present from my sister” she sighed and looked down at the giant reindeer head, complete with antlers and sporting a bright red nose. “It’s the warmest one I have though so I kept it for cold nights in the lab when nobody else was around”

“Sorry I missed that” Kate grinned and then nodded at her driver as he checked that they were ready to head out.

An hour later they were stamping snow off their boots and looking around at the landscape spread out before them. “They weren’t kidding when they called this the Pöyrisjärvi Wilderness Area” Osgood turned full circle to see nothing but snow-laden sand dunes lining the lakeshore and surrounding them for as far as the eye could see.

“Easy for you to say” Kate muttered as they stepped up to the front of the SUV to see the map laid out by the commander of local UNIT forces. “So the UCO is just west of here?” she checked her bearings. 

The officer looked confused and tried not to show it in front of his boss. “Ma’am?” he finally admitted. “I am sorry, I do not understand that designation” he hoped to pass his confusion off as a translation issue.

Osgood sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose again. “Because she just made it up” she huffed and looked pityingly towards the soldier before staring at a sheepish Kate. “Unidentified Crashing Object?” she confirmed her hypothesis and rolled her eyes at Kate’s wink of confirmation. “OK, so why is this one special, you must get regular meteorite landfalls here and who even noticed it?” she tried to get the soldier back on familiar territory.

“Civilian forces had multiple reports of a light moving around in the sky before a loud noise” he began, bewildered trying to reconcile the ‘scary boss woman’ he’d been warned about with the blonde who had made the joke. “They checked and we’d flagged this area as being of interest during the Auton skyfall incident and so they passed it onto us” He looked around and resettled his body armour and side holster. “I confirmed that there was no satellite coverage at the time but that the final collision had been picked up by the earthquake monitoring stations at our Arctic base and as far away as Alaska”

“Good work Commander” Kate nodded at Osgood and watched her step away to contact their own team in London. “Now, what on earth is up here that would interest someone enough to make them want to crash here?” They continued to discuss various theories for the next few minutes and Kate only looked up from the map when Osgood returned to her side. “Anything?”

“We picked it up on long-range scanners and it showed up as a tiny blip on the Richter scale planetwide” Osgood confirmed.

“Full range scans and then let's see how big the hole is” Kate ordered and watched the Commander skillfully refold the large map. “I can strip down and rebuild a G36 rifle in minutes but I’ve never been able to refold a map properly once I’ve looked at it” she grinned at the astonishment on the officer’s face. “I’m sorry for joking earlier, you’ve done an excellent job so far Commander”

“Ma’am” he nodded and risked a smile, he still didn’t want to cross this woman but he wasn’t fearing for his job anymore.

“Will you be OK?” she turned to check with Osgood. “The crater is about a ten-minute walk that way” she pointed towards the top of the highest point of land.

“I’ll be fine” Osgood nodded before remembering the soldiers flanking them “Thank you ma’am” she shouldered her messenger bag and asked one of the soldiers to carry the large suitcase containing the rest of her equipment. Taking a preventative puff of her inhaler she set off, glad that some of the soldiers had created a path of packed down snow for them to walk on. 

“You have a beautiful country Commander” Kate walked beside the soldier and glanced around. She was checking for signs of anything amiss in the surrounding countryside but had noticed the stunning scenery as a by-product.

“Norway is just beyond the end of the north-west tip of the lake” he pointed in that direction. “We have our colleagues on that side of the border as well, always better to avoid scrutiny from wandering hikers”

Kate nodded “Indeed, we don’t need border incidents to deal with as well as everything else”

They walked for a few more minutes and stopped as they hit the top of the hill. “Now that is what you call a crash-site” Kate rocked on her heels and waited for Osgood to catch up with her.

“Goodness” Osgood stood next to Kate and surveyed the huge scar in the land in front of them, leading into the lake. “Something came in hot and fast alright” she took a puff of her inhaler before wrestling a handheld scanner from her bag. 

“Mmm” Kate looked around and checked something on her phone before turning to the Commander again. “Am I right in thinking we had to walk this last part rather than drive because most of this is bogland?”

“Yes ma’am” he nodded in agreement and walked over to stand beside Kate, pointing out the ancient trails between sand dunes that marked the safe paths through the treacherous landscape. “That’s interesting” she muttered to herself and stamped her feet on the ground as if she could get a sense of the solidity beneath her. “Osgood?” she called over her shoulder.

“Mmmm?” Osgood was intent on setting out the tripods and various instruments she had helped to unpack from the case.

“Osgood!” Kate needed her attention and raised her voice slightly. All of the soldiers nearby suddenly snapped to alertness and two of them unsnapped their weapons from their holsters. “Stand down, sorry” Kate motioned for the soldiers to return to their duties. “Sorry, I just needed to ask you something” she looked at a surprised Osgood who was just returning her inhaler to her pocket.

“Ma’am” Osgood walked over to stand beside her. “Sorry, I was setting up the..”

“I know” Kate gestured to the lake in front of them. “Just listen for a second” she held up her phone to show Osgood the result of her search earlier. “This entire area is mainly bogland with sand dunes on top” she explained. “When it’s not snow covered and looking like Santa’s backyard you’d see scrubs and bushes everywhere” she watched Osgood trying to figure out what Kate had seen that she hadn’t.

Shaking her head she had one more look all around them before admitting defeat. “I’m sorry ma’am, I don’t see what it is that you see”

Kate sighed. “How fast and hard would something have to hit this soggy, sandy sponge to register on every earthquake monitor we have on the planet?” she asked quietly.

Osgood suddenly smiled, she could see what Kate meant and was slightly in awe of how quickly her boss had figured that out when she hadn’t. The smile turned to a worried frown when she started to calculate the implications of the question she’d just been asked. “Oh,” she muttered and gave up trying to do the sums in her head. Bending over her own phone she started plugging in numbers “Oh no” she looked up.

“That’s what I thought” Kate nodded and turned to the bewildered soldier by her side. “I assume we now have satellite imagery in real time?” he nodded and she gestured back to the SUV. “Let’s head back to your base, we’re going to need some bigger computers and a link to our HQ”

Osgood was still muttering when she noticed that they had arrived back at the SUV. “This is very bad” she informed Kate before getting into the car and calling her team in London.

*****************************

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose and listened to the scientists in London argue with Osgood over the satellite uplink. “Enough!” she finally gave into her irritation. “Osgood, what do you recommend?” she looked at her friend and motioned for the soldier at the controls to mute the noise coming from London. “You’re here, you’ve seen what they saw as they came into land with prejudice” she smiled at the phrasing they’d agreed upon an hour ago. “I trust you and your instinct more than I trust a room load of them” she waved a dismissive hand at the monitors. “Which is something I need to fix when this is sorted out” she acknowledged. No point having a Science Led organisation if the scientists couldn’t agree on basic tectonic theory.

“I think there’s a probe underneath the lake” Osgood kept eye contact with Kate as she gave her opinion. “There is nothing except our normal background radiation and the angle of entry was calculated to give maximum depth when it hit the bed of the lake”

“How far down?” Kate glanced at the sheaf of papers that they’d all contributed to compiling over the last six hours.

“A mile, give or take” Osgood hated being this imprecise but they had made an awful lot of assumptions during the day so far and she was getting too tired to add the accumulated statistical deviations in her head.

Kate signaled to the soldier and the noise abruptly came back on. “Quiet” Kate didn’t need to raise her voice, the tone was enough to silence the room in London. “We’re going to work under Osgood’s theory for now” she waited for anyone to disagree and was relieved that they had enough sense not to. “We’ll stay and I need you all to get your heads together and figure out where it came from” Kate stood and rolled her shoulders. “Reports to both Osgood and I by midnight our time please” she nodded and the soldier cut off the communication channel. “I have no idea what time it is or how long we’ve been up but let’s get some food?” she suggested to Osgood.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood shuffled the papers into a folder and checked her pockets for her belongings. “24 hours” she smiled at Kate and it turned into a grin at the bewildered look on her boss’s face. “Neither of us slept very much on the flights so we’ve been traveling and working for 24 hours”

“Ah” Kate nodded and shrugged into her jacket as the soldiers around them moved to accompany them to the SUV’s parked outside the office building. “At least I had last week off to rest, you must be exhausted” she walked alongside Osgood.

Osgood had started to shake her head to deny it but was interrupted by a huge yawn. “Sorry” she cleaned her glasses and thanked the soldier who held the door for her. “At least we were inside and warm for most of it” she rubbed her eyes before replacing her glasses.

“I was hoping we’d need to go outside again just to see you wearing Rudolph” Kate grinned at the disgruntled face before asking the driver to take them to their hotel. “We’ll reconvene in the morning Commander,” she told the officer in the front seat. “That should give London enough time to figure out the additional information we’ve asked for and we’ll read through their reports later this evening” she tried to fight off the yawn but it was not to be denied. “Sorry” she apologised to the soldier.

“Yes ma’am” he nodded and listened to some radio chatter in his earpiece before refocusing on the two women on the back seat of the SUV. “We’ve requisitioned a suite for you both and the rooms either side for your personal protection detail”

Kate frowned, she hated having an armed guard whenever she traveled outside of London. “Of course but I hope we’re being discreet” she also hated people wondering if they were movie stars with an entourage.

“Yes ma’am, we spoke with Captain Carter and he confirmed your requirements” the Commander was glad that the English officer had contacted him and explained the likely reaction to armed soldiers standing outside her hotel room.

Osgood could feel Kate getting grumpy next to her so decided to give her some time to calm down. “I’m sure Captain Carter is familiar with our requirements, he’s been responsible for enough close protection details in the past” she reassured the soldier.

“Ma’am” he nodded at her before turning back to look out the windscreen and listen to more radio chatter.

“Just Osgood” Kate muttered before turning to look at her friend. “Sorry, people always forget that” she shrugged at the questioning look.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood smiled at her and saw the tension draining away from Kate’s shoulders. The SUV swept into the underground parking for the hotel and they were ushered into a lift that took them directly to their floor. “Do you miss people doing all of the boring bits for you when you go on holiday?” she asked Kate, who seemed distracted.

“Mmmm?” Kate stuck her hands into her trouser pockets and looked at Osgood. Truth be told she’d been trying to figure out what was so special about this part of the planet to warrant off-world reconnaissance. “Sorry, I was miles away, what did you say?”

Osgood smiled and shook her head. “It wasn’t important, go back to your musings” she felt Kate roll her eyes as she’d turned back round to face the floor indicator. The doors opened and Kate strode off down the corridor with the younger woman following a few steps behind, stopping when they found a door with a nervous looking hotel employee standing outside it. 

“Dr. Stewart?” he nervously eyed the two soldiers behind the women and gulped at the number of weapons visible in his nice, quiet hotel.

“Yes, apologies for the escort but they’ll disappear now until the morning” she turned and made sure that the soldiers stepped into the room next to the one they were standing outside. “Is this my room?” she reminded the manager of the reason for their conversation.

“Of course” he swept open the door with a flourish and pointed out the two bedrooms and bathrooms with the small lounge between them. “Will there be anything else?” he bowed and shuffled towards the doors, his haste at getting them locked up inside the room and away from his other guests quite comical.

Osgood laughed as Kate shook her head and he closed the door firmly with a sigh of relief. “I wonder what Josh told him about us to get him that worried?”

Kate smiled “Probably that we’d be throwing tv sets out of windows by midnight” she looked around and dropped her coat and gloves over the back of the sofa nearest to her. “So should we get room service or did you want to try one of the restaurants?” she asked as she flipped open the room service menu. When she didn’t get an answer she glanced up and couldn’t see her companion. “Os?”

“In here” Osgood shouted from one of the bedrooms and Kate briefly lifted an eyebrow before following the voice. She found the young woman in the ensuite bathroom, staring in delight at one of the largest baths she’d ever seen. “I know, right?!” Osgood said as she saw Kate’s jaw slacken a bit. “Did you bring a swimming costume?”

“What?” Kate looked back towards Osgood. “Why would I need my swimsuit for your bath?” she grinned at the blush that formed at speed on the younger woman’s neck, traveling up to her eyebrows before Osgood dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

“I am so sorry, that was so inappropriate” Osgood blushed even more furiously as she was inundated with visuals of them sharing the bath. “I was thinking that room service sounded good and then room service in this room and then it just came out wrong because obviously, I don’t, well I would never, I mean” she ran out of steam in her mortification.

“I think we should order some food and relax, we’re clearly both too tired to be sitting in a restaurant” Kate patted the younger woman’s shoulder and turned to walk to her room. “Let’s freshen up and order some food in 10 minutes?” she suggested and headed to her own room on Osgood’s answering nod.

Kate hung up the towels in her own bathroom carefully, she also had a bath but the shower had been too tempting and she felt refreshed after finding the pulse setting. Pulling on a sweater she headed back to the lounge, finding Osgood sitting on the sofa and surfing through television channels. “Can you speak Finnish?” she asked and sank into a chair.

“No” Osgood smiled at her, trying to be sneaky about checking out her boss. The jeans looked soft from years of wear and the sweater was one size too large for her but suited her perfectly. “I was checking to see if there were any news channels with aliens or UFOs on them” she smiled.

“Good idea” Kate smiled and reached behind her for the room service menu, inadvertently showing off her abdomen as her sweater rode up a little. “Didn’t you want to get changed?” she glanced over to see Osgood looking very warm in her clothes from earlier, minus the Rudolph sweater.

“I’ll have a bath after some food then put on my pajamas while we wait for the reports to come in” Osgood coughed a little to clear her throat.

They agreed on food and Kate phoned the order down to reception. She then called London to update Colonel Shindi on what had happened so far and what some possible outcomes could be from the research the team was working on. He promised to chase up the scientists at his end and was about to sign off when he heard someone knock her door. “Is everything alright ma’am?” he checked, glancing at the security updates on another screen.

“Yes it’s just dinner arriving” Kate put her hand over her mobile. “Os just get them to set everything up there” she suggested before returning to her call. “Sorry about that, been a long day and we didn’t want to scare off the other patrons by going downstairs to get some food”

Colonel Shindi smiled as he imagined Kate sauntering into a nice restaurant with armed soldiers behind her. “Good idea ma’am, I’ll contact you if we get anything else here, enjoy dinner with Osgood”

Kate looked at her phone strangely for a second before shaking her head and moving towards the table. “I’m tired and hungry” she announced but with a smile on her face as she placed a napkin over her lap and speared some fresh vegetables on her fork.

“Everything OK at the Tower?” Osgood asked before taking a large mouthful of pasta. “Mmmmm this is delicious” she mumbled.

“Yes, the Colonel is going to give your team a gentle reminder of our deadline in half an hour” Kate smiled as Osgood rapidly swallowed her mouthful. “Don’t worry, he’s promised to play nicely with them”

“Yes ma’am” Osgood used the tone of voice that meant she was completely unsure why she was agreeing but wanted to humour her boss anyway. 

“Can we agree that you call me Kate when we’re in our civvies?” Kate smiled as Osgood looked up at her in surprise. “You know what I mean” she shrugged.

“OK” Osgood nodded and barely restrained herself from obviously checking out what Kate was wearing. “I like it when you call me Os,” she said quietly.

“I do?” Kate asked in surprise, she hadn’t been aware of using the diminutive. 

“I don’t think you mean to but it just kind of slips out” Osgood stared at her pasta, wondering what the magic ingredient was that suddenly made her tell Kate her secrets.

“OK” Kate blushed a little, she only ever used the short version of her friend’s name when she imagined kissing her and now it seemed that was bleeding out into the real world. She was suddenly petrified that other parts of her fantasies were just as vulnerable to crossing over. “Well, I’ll try to remember that the next time we’re in a hotel room together” Kate had meant that to sound much less smutty and sank her head into her hands as she heard Osgood cough in surprise. “I’m sorry, that sounded less incriminating in my head” she looked up and saw Osgood wiping her chin where she’d spilled her water. 

“It’s fine ma…...Kate” Osgood gulped and wiped the front of her blouse as well. “We’re both tired so let’s just agree to forget that and the bath thing from earlier and call it even?”

“Good plan, thank you” Kate nodded and concentrated on finishing her dinner. 

Osgood glanced up at Kate over her glasses several times, making sure that she wasn’t reading too much into the innuendo. She finished her pasta and glass of water, sitting back in her chair and glancing at her watch. “We still have an hour or so before the reports are due,” she said quietly. “I think I’ll get freshened up and put on something more comfortable”

“Of course, take your time” Kate smiled up at her through her fringe. “Did you want me to order anything else, coffee or tea?”

“No thanks, the water will be fine” Osgood nodded awkwardly and headed for her room. She closed the door gently and stood with her back to it “Stupid” she whispered to herself. “Get a grip” she was annoyed at her earlier slip and knew that she’d never be able to have a relaxing bath now that she had visuals of Kate being with her. “Shower it is then” she muttered and unpacked her clothes and toiletries.

Kate stared at her phone screen for several minutes, not expecting a call but talking herself out of looking at the few photographs she had on it. They were ostensibly team photos from various incidents, tired people huddled together in victory but the common denominator in all of them was Osgood. She cherished them and allowed herself to look at them when she was in especially low spirits, however, she didn’t think she deserved the comfort they would bring tonight because it was her own fault that she wasn’t sitting looking at Osgood herself right now. “Sod it” she muttered and threw the phone back onto the table, her glasses following soon afterward. She stood abruptly and tidied the plates, putting everything back on the trolley and pushing it outside the room door. 

Osgood took a little longer than Kate had in getting cleaned up and redressed. When she emerged from her room 30 minutes later she found Kate sitting on one of the sofas, her laptop perched on her raised knees. She stared at one hand as it played with the slightly too long hair over her left ear and the lower lip was being chewed in a distracted way. She cleared her throat to let Kate know that she was back in the room and watched as Kate finished reading whatever was on the screen before turning to look at her. “Are the reports in early?” she asked.

“Nope, just doing some research of my own, probably a bit of a rat hole but I was curious about something” Kate admitted and saved what was in the file before closing the laptop. “Nice PJs” she winked as she stretched her back and stood up, grabbing them both a bottle of water from the small fridge and handing one to Osgood.

“I didn’t think we’d be sharing a suite” Osgood mumbled, embarrassed by her soft and stripy pajamas.

“It’s fine, we’ve stayed in a lot worse places” Kate smiled and drank from her bottle of water. “How was the bath?” she asked and watched as Osgood nearly inhaled her own water. 

“Shower” Osgood managed to get out around several more coughs before grabbing her inhaler from the table. “Sorry, went down the wrong pipe” her voice sounded a little deeper than usual.

Kate swallowed and clenched her left fist to stop herself from patting Osgood on the back. “Are you OK?” she checked and waited for the nod of agreement, thankful that her friend hadn’t said anything else as she imagined the gravelly tone to her voice first thing in the morning. “I was hoping you’d take a look at something for me” she decided to return to work, they were both clearly more comfortable when in danger of alien attack.

“Of course” Osgood nodded and cleared her throat one more time, finally risking a small sip of water. Kate handed over her laptop and looked around before pulling over a dining chair from the table to sit down next to the sofa. Leaning over she pointed to the mapping software she had been working on earlier. “Are these recent skyfalls?” Osgood asked as she scanned the areas highlighted with the icon they used for meteorites or random space junk landing on earth.

“Not really recent” Kate leaned further over the arm of the sofa, deliberately not breathing deeply to avoid smelling the shower gel and shampoo that Osgood had clearly recently used. “I’m trying to figure out what’s worth the effort of crashing in this part of the world and then I wondered if the probe was looking for something that had crashed before” she pointed to the date range on the legend at the side of the map.

“Mmmm” Osgood tracked her finger across several icons, highlighting details of the incidents they represented. “These are from before our records begin” she looked up to see Kate’s face a lot closer than she expected. 

“That’s what I wanted to ask you to sanity check for me” Kate smiled and glanced at Osgood, who seemed frozen with her eyes on Kate’s jaw. “Os?” she said gently and raised an eyebrow without even realising it.

“Sorry” Osgood shook her head and felt the blush running up her neck. There was nothing she could do to hide it so decided to brazen it out. “I’m probably going to say you’re sane but try me” she settled back onto the sofa more comfortably.

Kate blinked and filed away her friend’s reactions for thinking about later. “I’ve had a project running with the archivist at the Tower” she explained. “We’ve been collating historical data from before UNIT or Torchwood were enshrined” she pointed to the oldest date on the map. “There are even some ‘oral history’ references that seem to be relevant” Kate leaned over the arm of the sofa to change the view on the laptop. “In this case, there are stories of the sun throwing out bolts of light to ward off invaders from what is now Norway” she changed the view back to the map before leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs, giving Osgood space.

Osgood stared at the screen for several seconds before stretching her back and looking at Kate. “So you think something crashed here hundreds or maybe thousands of years ago and ‘they’ are only now coming to find it?” she chewed her bottom lip. “Or maybe it’s just space junk or aliens who picked a remote place where not many people live?”

“I know, it could be either of those things” Kate agreed sitting back a little more and crossing her arms. “But…” she raised one finger to stop Osgood interrupting her. “What if there’s something preserved underneath all of the peat out there?”

“Preserved, you mean like Piltdown Man?” Osgood shifted the laptop slightly to turn and look at Kate.

“Well yes and no, I mean preserved by the particular qualities inherent in submersion in a peat bog for long periods of time but not as a fake” she clarified.

“OK” Osgood nodded and filtered through several options in her mind for where to go next. “So why have we not picked anything up on our scans before now?”

“Well you reckoned the probe had traveled at least a mile underground, would our standard scans pick up anything at that depth?” Kate waited for Osgood to check something on the laptop.

Osgood huffed and handed the laptop over to Kate before getting up to retrieve her own. “Yours has everything in the wrong place” she explained and smiled as she booted up her own laptop and continued her search. “OK, I see what you mean, we wouldn’t normally be scanning for anything at that depth” she typed in some more parameters and the tip of her tongue peeped out as she waited for the returns. “But we do have a satellite in orbit that could do a broad search for us” 

“Brilliant, how quickly can we get that done?” Kate asked, glad that Osgood hadn’t completely dismissed her ideas.

“Ah” Osgood bit her lip again. “Slight problem, it turns out it’s officially an ESA satellite but is actually tasked for military purposes at the moment” she cocked her head to the side slightly. “It’s covering the middle east right now, we’d need to get approval to change its orbit and point it up here for a few passes”

Kate sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, her glasses held in her other hand until she put them back on. “Let’s leave that until the morning, I’m not sure I can face talking to pompous military types this late at night” she yawned.

Osgood smiled and jumped slightly when her laptop pinged at her to let her know she had received an email. “Ah, the reports are in from the Tower,” she said and saw Kate return to check her own mailbox. 

“That’s interesting” Kate muttered as she scanned down the reports. 

“The one from Donaldson?” Osgood checked as she read through the same documents. “But why didn’t Pharos 2 pick up anything coming in from that quadrant?” she continued speed reading through the other pages with different data compiled by her team.

“Could they have waited for the eclipse?” Kate looked up to check her hypothesis with Osgood. As a biologist she wasn’t as familiar with physical sciences.

Osgood pondered Kate’s question, running some calculations of her own before closing down her laptop. “It would have been the perfect opportunity to sneak past our satellites” she chewed her bottom lip “But that just means that they had to land somewhere at this latitude so they may not have been aiming for here specifically”

“Agreed” Kate shut her own laptop and dumped it and her glasses on the table before returning to the other sofa, stretching out and staring at the ceiling. “So I’ll keep digging into the legends and myths until we can get the military satellite scan and then we’ll decide what we’re actually looking at” she breathed out a deep breath, tiredness suddenly overcoming her as it often did at these moments of inaction.

“OK” Osgood agreed and yawned. “We should get some sleep but I’m not sure I’ll be able to anytime soon”

“Me neither” Kate crossed her ankles and propped her feet on the other arm of the sofa. “So, should we talk about movies again?” she grinned over at Osgood.

“No” Osgood smiled “I’m not sure I can cope with you being compos mentis, your sarcasm would be too much and I’m used to it!”

“Fair point, so what else were we chatting about then?” Kate had returned to staring at the ceiling, not able to make eye contact with the younger woman as she led them towards her intended topic of conversation.

Osgood stared at her boss and wondered why she was taking them back down this path. She’d clearly been shocked by her admission and Osgood expected Kate to be OK with her coming out but not to mention it ever again. That fit into her own plan of unrequited lusting after the older woman but Kate seemed to want to open the discussion again. She took a deep breath and licked her lips, watching the older woman with the impossibly long legs who was studiously avoiding her gaze. “I’m fairly sure we were trying to figure out who it was at work that you had a thing for but we never finished because you had to be excessively grumpy with the Tower medics”

Kate winced, she had been very annoyed once they had got back to base. “In my defense I was quite badly concussed and in quite a bit of pain,” she turned her head to see Osgood staring at her with a smile on her face. “I’m sorry though, I wasn’t horrible to you, was I?” She saw Osgood shake her head and lean against her hand, propping her head on the arm of the sofa. “Good” she returned to staring at anything but the young woman, who was looking ridiculously cute in her stripey t-shirt and long pajama trousers. “And I don’t have a thing for someone at work,” she said, rather more sharply than she meant. “I mean, not like that” she tried to explain her way out of this. 

“So you have a different type of thing?” Osgood was enjoying herself, even though she knew they were both treading on thin ice. 

“What?” Kate looked over at her again, seeing the twinkle in her eyes “No, there is no thing…...nothing even!” she spluttered.

Osgood was laughing outright now. “I’m sorry” she managed between giggles. “You’re just so easy to wind up about this for some reason and it’s funny because you’re normally this ‘super-put-together’ tough woman”

“I am not!” Kate protested and rubbed her hands over her face. “Os!” she pleaded for mercy before she realised what she’d said. “Oh, I did it again, didn’t I?” she looked at her nemesis this time.

“You did” Osgood nodded softly. “It’s OK, I don’t mind” she ran her hand nervously through her hair. 

“Good” Kate relaxed a little, after all, she’d maneuvered them into this situation so now was her chance to actually make some headway. “Good,” she said again and rolled her eyes at herself, she was so out of practice at this. “And when I say there isn’t a thing, well what I mean is that there isn’t someone else I have a thing for” she replayed the sentence in her head, even for her usual level of emotional discomfort, it sounded stilted. 

“Someone else?” Osgood said quietly, starting to feel her stomach flutter but she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if Kate was going to say what she imagined.

“Well yes….I mean someone other” Kate vaguely waved her hand around the room.

“You do know that I’m two sentences away from running up the universal translation app on my phone, don’t you?” she couldn’t stand the suspense for much longer, if Kate was going to declare her romantic feelings for someone else, someone other, then she wanted it to be over and done with to let her sob quietly in her own room.

“I’m sorry, I used to be so much better at this” Kate rubbed her hands over her face again before swinging her legs round to face Osgood. “I’m going to say this in one go and you must feel free to never mention it again if that’s how you feel” she looked up to see the young woman looking concerned now. “There isn’t anyone else but you” Kate blew out a breath and stared at her hands where they rested between her knees. “I’m sorry” she rushed on as there was silence from the other sofa. “Like I said, it’s completely inappropriate and you must ignore me and even report me to HR if you wish, although you know I’d never act on this as you clearly….” she ran out of steam, the continuing silence defeating even her ability to waffle.

“Kate, look at me” Osgood hadn’t moved a muscle since the confession but she was pretty sure she was now floating about six inches above the sofa. “Please” she whispered. Kate looked up, chewing her lip and clearly prepared for rejection. “Do you not remember anything about my ‘type’” she made air quotes.

Kate furrowed her brows, looking confused “Well I think you said someone smart and funny and…..I’m sorry but I don’t really remember the rest”

Osgood pinched the bridge of her nose, leaving her glasses beside her on the sofa. “OK, here goes,” she said and looked up at Kate who was now pleasantly blurry, like a 1930s movie idol. “Woman, super smart, funny, blonde, looks after themselves…..” she had ticked off the attributes on her fingers. “Does that not remind you of anyone?” she grinned.

Kate ran through the current employees at the Tower before understanding what Osgood was getting at. “Wait” she stood up and started pacing. “You mean?” she stopped in front of Osgood, pointing at herself.

Osgood sat back a little and smiled as Kate worked through her emotions. She watched her start to pace again, clearly, the short strides of the gorgeous legs were helping her brain to finally catch up. Osgood didn’t mind, she was rather enjoying the view and when Kate turned round to walk back towards the windows she managed to get a nice view of her arse in the tight jeans. She frowned a little, how on earth would this work, they were work colleagues and that had to come first. “Are you OK?” she said quietly. “We don’t have to act on it, even now that we both know where we stand”

“No” Kate turned halfway through her latest lap and walked back to her sofa. Osgood looked crestfallen and she replayed the last ten seconds in her head. “I mean yes I’m OK if a little surprised”

“You’re surprised?” Osgood sat up a little and put her glasses back on, she felt that this might not turn out as she hoped. “You just came out to me and onto me in the same sentence!”

“Dammit” Kate swore under her breath, she could tell she was messing this up. “Alright, let's just calm down and figure this out, we’re both smart women after all”

“I’m not lacking in calm” Osgood was actually getting quite annoyed now. “There’s nothing to figure out, we both fancy each other but we can’t do anything about it so that’s that”

“Why?” Kate was trying not to get angry as well.

“Why can’t we do anything about it?” Osgood checked that they were on the same page. “Because you’re my boss and our work stops the planet from being destroyed one invasion at a time” she couldn’t understand why she needed to explain this.

“Well I’m not saying we wouldn’t need to let HR and Geneva know, but I don’t think that should stop us seeing where this takes us” Kate could hear the tone at the edge of her voice, she was too tired to keep it hidden. “Unless that’s not what you want?”

“Are you for real?” it was Osgood’s turn to stand and begin pacing, she was well on the road to being furious.”You want me to fill in forms before we even kiss?”

“What, no, that’s not what I..” Kate knew this was spiraling out of her control and she hated not being in control.

“So we need to wait for a committee to agree before we can go out for dinner and then what, they need to sanction if we decide it’s going well and want to sleep together?” Osgood’s train of indignation had left the station and was reaching top speed.

Kate stood and blocked the path of Osgood’s pacing. “Please, stop,” she said quietly, putting her hands around Osgood’s biceps and holding her at arm's length. “Please, I didn’t mean for this to happen” 

“I didn’t mean to have feelings for you either but they’re there and I was fine with them being unrequited, I could cope..” Osgood was breathing heavily and could feel Kate’s fingers flexing slightly where they held her.

“No, I meant I didn’t mean for us to argue when I told you how I felt” Kate gave her a lopsided smile, hoping to defuse the situation. “Can we sit down again, please?” Osgood huffed and moved back to her sofa, indicating that Kate should sit across from her again. Kate sat back, crossing her legs and trying to regain some semblance of order in her brain. She’d been stunned to hear Osgood’s confession but clearly, Osgood was just as stunned. “I’m sorry, I should have split up the revelations to make this easier” Kate pulled a cushion from beside her, holding it against her abdomen to provide some comfort. “After you told me about being gay I was going to tell you about being bisexual but I didn’t want you to think it was just the head injury”

Osgood had calmed down a little, enough to get breathing back under control. She pulled her legs underneath her, sat cross-legged facing the very worried looking blonde. “To be fair I probably would have told the paramedics that you were more concussed than we thought” she acknowledged. “So you had feelings for me before I told you I was gay?” Osgood needed to be assured that this wasn’t just convenience. “Or did you think that we could just be…”

Kate held up her hands “Don’t say it please, I beg of you” she sat forward again and dropped the cushion beside her, hands reaching out to Osgood but not making any further moves. “I would never insult you enough to suggest fuck buddies and I really hope you wouldn’t insult me by thinking I would?” she swallowed, this was crucial if they were to move forward in any direction.

“Of course not, I was going to say gay best friends without the sex” Osgood quirked an eyebrow and saw Kate’s surprise at her signature move being used against her. “Although I am intrigued that you went straight to sex” she watched Kate groan and drop her head into her hands. “Did you really used to be better at this?” 

“Well it has been twenty-something years since I actually had to ask someone out but I didn’t think I’d be this rusty!” Kate shook herself. “Right, give me one last chance?” she waited for Osgood’s nod and was reassured that the anger she’d seen only a few minutes before seemed to have abated, mostly, but she was under no illusion that this needed to be done properly. “I’d like to take you to dinner, somewhere nice, when we don’t need an armed guard, and just get to know you a bit better outside of work” she had made eye contact at the start and was reassured to see a smile curving Osgood’s lips, her wonderful lips which must have been dry because the young woman licked them and Kate suddenly felt very warm.

Osgood saw the sincerity in Kate’s eyes until they dropped down to stare at her lips. She ran a quick experiment to see what the reaction would be and was pleasantly surprised when a blush bloomed on the older woman’s face when she licked her lips. “My eyes are up here,” she said quietly, her voice was a little huskier than usual and she realised her body was reacting to the sudden heat in the room as well. “I’d love to have dinner with you when we’re back home but we do need to figure out how we’re going to make it work before we both get in too deep” she had meant this as a responsible comment but the split second she suggested them ‘getting in deep’ she could hear the entire cast of Carry On Henry wolf whistling in her head. 

Kate’s eyebrows were both under her fringe and she was desperately trying not to laugh out loud. “Well that just reminded me of some old movies” she grinned as Osgood looked up at her, embarrassment written across her face. “Did you just hear a Sid James dirty laugh in your head when you said that?”

“He was in there, along with the usual suspects” Osgood laughed. “You watched the Carry On films?”

“Only about ten times each and if they’re on TV I still sit and watch them” Kate relaxed for the first time in twenty minutes. “Seems like we do have something other than work in common then” 

“Well Carry On movies and snogging women are top of the list so far” Osgood heard a ping from her laptop and pulled it towards her. “Let me check this, I asked for some further analysis earlier”

“OK” Kate reached for her glasses and twirled them in her fingers while she waited to see what progress the science teams had made. 

“Well that’s good to know” Osgood smiled and gestured for Kate to sit next to her and read the report. “They’ve confirmed that the eclipse was the backdoor that let them through our scanning systems” she pointed out one report before flicking over to another one. “This shows that the trajectory altered quite a bit once they were under our radar so it looks like they were definitely heading for that specific area after all” she pointed to the extrapolated flight path and how it matched with the local reports of lights in the sky at the time of the incident.

Kate read from her place beside Osgood, genuinely absorbing the information and not thinking about how close they were sitting or how the heat from the younger woman was warming her left arm where they leaned close together. “So I do need to get that satellite retasked” she sighed and picked up her phone from the table. “Let me call Colonel Shindi and get him started on the requests through the military channels, can you find out who I need to talk to at ESA?” she asked Osgood and waited for her nod before walking to the windows to have her phone conversation with the Colonel. She stared out at the city lights as they discussed what options they had to persuade the various people in several different chains of command, cross-border cooperation was all very well but it generally meant that Kate had to explain things patiently to many more people in many different languages to get anything done.

Osgood was searching through her contacts at the European Space Agency and sending out brief emails to several of them before letting the team in London know what the next steps were to be. She also asked that they include the Tower Archivist from now on, it seemed that this would be a useful resource and the more of them they had working on this problem the better as far as she was concerned. She knew that some of the new members of the scientific team had their doubts that she was qualified to be leading a large team of disparate experts and she had, until earlier today, been happy for the longer serving members of the team to help them understand the team dynamics. However Kate had been right, they had spent several hours today going over the same arguments and at least two of the team would be on the other side of her desk on her return and answering some fairly brusque questions. Their responses during that meeting would determine them continuing as resources at UNIT or leaving with their memories wiped and being sent home with a cover story.

Kate listened to Shindi run through the steps he thought they should take and agreed that he should reach out at first, leaving her to come in later if the throwing around of command weight became necessary. She did enjoy coming in at the end to glare at people who were being unreasonable, especially when they didn’t react well and she had to show them her rank designations and global security clearances. “That’s a good start, we can catch up in the morning again around 11 my time to see what else we need to do” she listened to him confirm this and wished him a good night’s sleep, at which he laughed at her sarcasm and signed off the call. She leaned her head against the glass of the window, watching the traffic below them as it wound through the central business district of the town. She played an old game of trying to figure out backstories for each person she saw walking into the other hotel across the road from theirs. She imagined them having assignations, meeting loved ones, huddling over business deals and losing themselves in the anonymity of a large chain hotel. 

Osgood had finished her last email and closed the laptop, stretching her back and shoulders and yawning again. She suddenly felt drained of all energy and knew she’d fall asleep within minutes of hitting the very comfortable looking pillows on her bed. “Kate?” she asked quietly and realised that the woman was in a world of her own again so left her laptop charging on the table before approaching her. “Kate?” she said again quietly, reaching out to touch her shoulder “Is everything OK?” she asked as the older woman turned to meet her eyes.

“Yes, Shindi will get moving on the military approvals and we’ll get it sorted out tomorrow morning” she smiled and dropped her phone in her pocket. “Did you…….” she dropped her head and rubbed her tired eyes. “Sorry I was going to ask if you wanted to go to bed now but everything I say is just coming out wrong tonight” she looked up sheepishly as Osgood snorted in amusement.

“Yes, let’s retire to our separate rooms and sleep” she grinned at her precision. “But I think we do need to agree to talk about this properly when we get back to London” she had waved between them to indicate what she meant.

“I agree, aliens first then dinner then Carry On Movies” Kate was relieved that they seemed to be almost back to their normal communication style. “What time did you want me to order breakfast for in the morning?”

“7 should be fine, thanks” Osgood took Kate’s laptop from the other sofa and plugged it in to charge as well. “Don’t forget to charge your phone” she said and threw a plug adaptor and charger at her boss. 

“Yes dear” Kate huffed, honestly you forget to charge a phone once and you’re never allowed to forget it!

“Goodnight Kate” Osgood seemed to want to put her hands in her pockets but her pajamas didn’t have them so she sketched a small wave instead. 

“Sleep well Os” Kate smiled and Osgood characterised it as soppy level 4, so she’d take that and have some very nice dreams before her 6.15am alarm roused her.

********************************************************

Kate was finishing her video call with the military commanders who had begrudgingly agreed to give up the satellite time for a couple of days. She signaled for the call to be closed and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief and began making noise again. Kate sighed and looked around to see where the local Commander was and waved him over when she caught his eye. “We’re going to need some supplies if there is something deep under that landscape, I need you to liaise with Captain Carter at the Tower and he’ll get the exact details from Osgood’s team”

“Yes Ma’am” he nodded and walked over to his junior officers, quickly giving them tasks that meant they had to leave the small room and give the remaining personnel a bit of breathing space.

Osgood was drinking out of a UNIT mug, sipping the black coffee slowly as she tracked rows of figures scrolling up her screen, looking for the pattern that she knew must be there. Blinking she stopped scrolling and paged up a couple of times to find what her brain had registered without her eyes even making her aware that there was something to see. “Mmmm, ma’am?” she raised her voice enough to get Kate’s attention.

“Did you find something?” Kate asked as she leaned over Osgood’s shoulder to see her screen. Squinting at the small figures which were once again scrolling past at speed she took a step back and waited to have the details pointed out to her. “Well?” she sounded a little grumpy but that was mostly because she’d had hardly any sleep.

“Yes, sorry, there it is” Osgood pointed at her screen and realised that it was too small for anyone but her to see. “Wait a sec” she muttered and asked one of the local team to let her use the large screens at the front of the room. “There, you see?” she stood and pointed to a row of numbers.

“It’s numbers” Kate said and squinted in thought. “Give me a clue?” she asked after several seconds.

“Sorry, of course,” Osgood blushed, she hadn’t intended to make Kate or anyone else look less intelligent but she’d been poring over these numbers all morning and had forgotten that she’d been on her own with her theories and hypotheses. “This column here shows the readings from the GRACE satellites, can you see this dip here” she pointed out several rows of numbers that dropped down from previous rows and then returned to the same readings as before. “That’s when they pass over our landing site and suggests an underground cavern of some kind” she stared at the numbers again until she became aware of the complete silence in the room behind her. “Ma’am?” she checked that Kate had understood what she’d said.

“Osgood you are a genius” Kate smiled and the rest of the room returned to normal noise levels. “I mean, you know that but what on earth made you think of using gravity measurements?”

“It was something you said” she returned to her seat and closed her laptop down. “You said yesterday that we were standing on a sponge but I realised last night that we weren’t, not all the way down anyway” Kate looked confused. “I was lying in bed last night and thinking about standing on the side of the lake, looking out over a relatively flat landscape” she hadn’t noticed the slight widening of Kate’s eyes when she’d mentioned being in bed. “I visualised the probe hitting the lake bed at high velocity and thought it probably had some kind of shield to protect it from impact” Osgood was getting excited and had started waving one hand around to illustrate her points, Kate watched her in awe. “So then I wondered if the original impact also had some kind of shielding that meant it had sunk through the peat but perhaps rested on the bedrock”

“Which would show up on the GRACE readings as a miniscule fluctuation suggesting a cavern or underground water deposit” Kate was up to speed.

“So the other satellite will be able to scan that particular area for us and identify any unusual mineral or metallic deposits” Osgood finished and sipped from her mug, which was cold.

Kate looked at her watch “How about we grab some lunch and get some fresh air?” she suggested as she grinned at the face Osgood made when she drank cold coffee.

“OK, I’ll let the Commander know” Osgood nodded and pulled her jacket on.

“Let me, can you find out where the nearest decent cafe is?” Kate asked and headed towards the military team. “Commander, Osgood and I are popping out for some lunch” she informed him, casually leaning against the wall and slipping her hands into her jacket pockets. “We won’t need a full armed escort, perhaps you have a couple of plainclothes people who can lurk inconspicuously?” she smiled sweetly but he knew it was an order.

“Of course” he nodded and pointed to two of his team. “Get changed and accompany Dr. Stewart and Ms. Osgood, side arms only” They saluted and left at the double to get changed. “Can you give my men 10 minutes?” he asked timidly.

“Tip top” Kate smiled at him and sauntered back over towards Osgood. “We need a few more minutes to get the dogs ready” she checked her watch again and then yawned unexpectedly. “I’m sorry” she murmured around her hand as she covered another yawn.

“That’s OK, we’ve been hard at it since early this morning” Osgood blushed. 

Kate ran her hands through her hair. “When will the satellite be in place??” she chose to ignore Osgood’s return to unintentional double entendres to save the younger woman any more blushes. 

“Tomorrow morning we should start to get readings” Osgood nodded and fastened her jacket. “Now that they know where to look it shouldn’t take long, assuming I’m correct of course”

“Of course” Kate smiled and followed the two plainclothes officers outside, Osgood at her side. “But I don’t doubt you are correct” she placed her hand on the young woman’s back before heading for the restaurant.

Osgood finished her water and sat back, smiling at her boss. “I didn’t realise I was hungry until I started eating”

Kate laughed “I think staring at all of those tiny figures must have used up hundreds of calories”

“I wish” Osgood sighed and stretched her back, checking her watch. “We should head back, although I have to admit it would be nice to sit here and drink coffee for a while, it’s much nicer than the coffee in the office”

Kate shook her head “You don’t need to worry about your weight and we both have our phones with us, we can take our time” 

Osgood watched her over the rim of her coffee cup. “You’re very relaxed, considering we’re fairly sure we have aliens underground”

“To be honest we’ll always have aliens and I’m starting to realise that it’s more important to ‘chill out’ unless they have ray guns” she had made the air quotes around the phrase which was clearly not one she used often.

Osgood laughed “Who was brave enough to tell you to chill out?”

“My darling son suggested I needed to find my bliss or something like that” Kate shook her head as her friend laughed again. “To be fair he was quite drunk and crashed out on my sofa after a friend’s party, I’m pretty sure he would have said the same thing to a lamppost by that time”

“He had a point though” Osgood grinned. “When you’re in our line of work it’s not really healthy to get super stressed every time an alien pops by to visit”

“Says the woman who carries two inhalers every day” Kate teased her friend before putting her hand over Osgood’s. “I’m kidding” she smiled.

“Uh huh, I’ll see you my medically prescribed inhalers and raise you the whisky decanter in your office” Osgood raised an eyebrow.

“OK, I give in” Kate held her hands up in surrender. “Did you want another coffee?” she asked and nodded to the waiter on Osgood’s shake of her head. “Just the bill thank you” she paid their bill when he returned and thanked him for including the table occupied by their protection.

Osgood left some currency on the table. “What did you want to do this afternoon?”

“Let’s get some local people to set up some more scanners near the site, I’d like some warning if anything starts moving under there” Kate walked slowly, enjoying the relative warmth with her jacket open and hands in her trouser pockets. “I’m sure there’s plenty of emails from home to deal with as well and perhaps we can have dinner and an early night, I didn’t sleep very well last night”

“Sorry” Osgood shrugged, her own hands in her jacket pockets.

“It wasn’t entirely your fault” Kate sighed. “I don’t usually sleep all that well in hotels”

“I’m sorry for my part in it then,” Osgood said shyly.

“Oh don’t be, it was nice to finally talk about it” she glanced behind her to check that the officers weren’t able to hear their conversation. “I’ve spent a few sleepless nights at home trying to work up the courage to tell you”

Osgood frowned “Am I that formidable?”

“No, but I couldn’t risk our work relationship and protecting you was my major concern” Kate shrugged and looked across the road. “We’re going to have a walk before we go back” she motioned at the small park across from the office and the soldiers nodded, one relaying their plans on a discrete radio and the other jogging ahead to check the vicinity. “Is that OK?” she checked with Osgood and glanced at the street before crossing the road. “Are you alright?” she was worried that her friend was quiet and the mood had changed from the relative relaxation of their lunch together.

“Sort of” Osgood motioned to a bench and they sat down, staring ahead at a small pond. “So how long had you known?” she asked quietly.

Kate sighed “Six months or so” she stared ahead. “You mean known about us?” she crossed her legs.

“I’m assuming the woman thing isn’t a recent revelation for you” Osgood chuckled and then turned in horror. “Oh goodness, I didn’t mean that to sound so dismissive, it’s completely alright if you have only just realised”

Kate laughed “Good grief no, that ship sailed quite a long time ago although I’m embarrassed to admit how old I was before I figured it out”

“I figured it out in secondary school but didn’t do anything about it until years later” Osgood shrugged. “Not like I was fighting off suitors of either sex anyway”

“I do wish you’d stop putting yourself down” Kate turned to look at her. “You just pulled satellite data from goodness knows where and proved your hypothesis to potentially save the planet AGAIN” she rested her hand on the bench between them, not touching Osgood but close enough that she could choose to make the final move. “You are unique”

Osgood blinked and slowly slid her hand until their little fingers rested against each other. “I’m just not sure why you prioritised my feelings over your own” she gulped and slowly stroked the other woman’s finger. “Did you think I’d feel pressured into saying yes to something I didn’t want because you’re my boss?”

“I couldn’t take the risk, could I?” Kate curled her finger, capturing Osgood’s. “What you told me after the incident, I woke up the next morning and couldn’t believe I’d actually heard you correctly”

“I knew you were more seriously injured….” Osgood started before being interrupted.

“Os,” she said quietly, squeezing her finger gently. “I’m fine, I just couldn’t believe that I hadn’t imagined it after months of persuading myself you were a died in the wool heterosexual”

Osgood sighed and turned her hand over, sliding it underneath Kate’s. “I guess we have the poor maintenance regime of an alien mechanic to thank for us finally taking the first step”

Kate laughed “I suppose so” she intertwined their fingers so that they were finally holding hands. “Was it?” she asked.

Osgood was enjoying the warmth of Kate’s hand around hers and continued to stare at the small pond in front of them. Several seconds passed before she noticed that Kate had asked a question. “Was what what?” she finally turned around on the bench so that she was facing Kate.

Kate took a deep breath and turned to face Osgood as well. “Was that the first step, of many I mean?”

“I think so if that’s what you want?” the brunette said quietly.

“I think so” Kate smiled and squeezed the hand she still held. “One of the things I was thinking about while not sleeping last night” she smiled at Osgood’s frown. “Was how quickly we went from having a bit of an argument about how stupid I was being in our personal lives, to concentrating on work as soon as those reports came in” she cleared her throat. “We did it without really thinking about it, and I realised that I didn’t need to worry about ‘us’ getting in the way of work because we both understand the priorities better than anyone else on the planet”

“You were being a bit of a plonker so it was nice to get back to the mundane alien stuff” Osgood tried to hide her smile but it snuck out and morphed into a huge grin as Kate wrinkled her brow and stuck her bottom lip out. “So maybe later, after dinner, we can talk about some of the other things that were causing your insomnia?” she blushed a little at her bravery.

Kate grinned and opened her mouth to reply but her phone chose that exact moment to start vibrating and ringing. “Sorry” she muttered as she stood up and pulled it from her trouser pocket. “Stewart,” she said and followed Osgood as they walked from the park back towards the office.

Several hours later Kate threw her phone onto the desk they had found for her. “No thank you” she shook her head at the offer of another coffee, she was fairly sure that one more cup of the awful stuff they made in the office would turn her hair brown. Running her hands through her longer than usual hair she scratched her scalp and tried to remember when her next hair appointment was. Sighing she returned to her laptop, clearing out the couple of dozen emails she’d received in the last hour. “Bloody requisitions” she muttered under her breath, her concentration completely on the spreadsheet on her screen.

“Ma’am,” Osgood said for the third time and eventually stepped closer “Kate?” she tried again and was rewarded with her boss sitting back and taking her glasses off to look at her. “Sorry, you weren’t answering” she shrugged in apology.

“How can we have gone through that many access cards in a month?” Kate asked, pointing at her screen. “I assumed that a secret military base underneath one of London’s most famous landmarks wouldn’t be handing the damn things out like sweeties”

Osgood grinned and leaned on the edge of the desk. “Are you always this grumpy when you’re signing off expenses?” she asked.

“Only if I’m waiting for a satellite to slowly get into the correct orbit” Kate had the grace to look sheepish. “Sorry, you were looking for me?”

“Oh nothing important, just to let you know the satellite is in the correct orbit” Osgood winked at her and returned to her own desk in front of the video screens. She waited for Kate to stand behind her, making a note of the groan she’d heard when the older woman had stood up. “So we’ve run the first scans and it’s coming back with some interesting results” she explained, pointing out the raw data on one screen and the extrapolation of the telemetry into a graphic on the other screen.

Kate took a couple of steps and gazed at the screens, quickly understanding what they were showing her. “So this one is the object we think landed a while ago?” she pointed to one of the blue dots on the screen, turning to look at Osgood.

“There isn’t any aging data yet but the GRACE readings began in March 2002 and it was there then so I’m pretty sure it’s from quite a while ago” Osgood stayed in her chair but pointed at the other screen. “The cavern that it’s sitting in has filled with water over time so we should be able to gather some idea of age from that once all of the data is collected”

“Composition?” Kate had taken a couple of steps back to lean on another desk, stretching her legs out in front of her and trying not to wince at the pain in her lower back.

“Nothing definitive yet but we’re not seeing any iron or nickel so I think that rules out most chances of it being a meteorite” Osgood knew that Kate was familiar with the definitions and compositions of basic rocks falling from the sky and didn’t have to explain further.

“Excellent, when will we know more?” Kate asked. While she didn’t relish danger she was getting a little stir crazy sitting in an office rather than being in the field.

“Another couple of hours, sorry ma’am” Osgood knew that Kate wasn’t going to like her answer. “Perhaps we could have some dinner and analyse the results back at the hotel?” 

Kate looked around, most people seemed tired and she knew that her grumpiness was starting to affect the rest of the team. “Good plan, OK everyone let’s call it a day and we’ll have a plan of action by tomorrow morning” She spent another half hour going over some scenarios for the next day with the Commander. When she looked up she saw that Osgood had packed up her own laptop and papers as well as Kate’s and was standing talking to one of the local communications experts. She nodded at one of the young scientists as they walked past her but most of her concentration was on the brunette and the short blonde woman she was talking to. It was obvious to Kate that Osgood was being flirted with a little but also that she was completely oblivious to this attention. Kate cocked her head to the side and watched for a few more seconds before sighing and walking towards them. “Osgood?” she said as she arrived, putting her hand gently on the small of her friend’s back and turning a level 3 glare onto the other young woman.

Osgood looked surprised at Kate’s sudden appearance and then confused when the woman she’d been talking to suddenly stood to attention and saluted them both before disappearing towards the changing rooms. “Hi” Osgood shrugged. “Are you ready?” she checked and missed the warmth when Kate took a step back and accepted her laptop bag from Osgood.

“The most frustrating thing is….” Kate was explaining several hours later as they both sat at the table in their suite. She lost track of what she was going to say as she paged down the report she was reading on her laptop.

“People who don’t finish their sentences?” Osgood guessed with a smile.

Kate glared at her over her glasses “The most frustrating thing is..” she started again “that we’ve been on site for nearly three days now and we’ve been either here or at the office almost the entire time” she pushed back from the table and dropped her glasses next to her laptop. “It’s not that I mind the travel but it’s bloody inconsiderate of the aliens to crash and then hide and not do anything”

“Personally I quite like my aliens to be quiet and well behaved but I suppose that’s just me” Osgood shrugged and stood to refill both of their cups from the coffee thermos. “It’s not as if we’re stuck outside in the snow and rain”

“I know, I’m just tired and these chairs are the most uncomfortable things to sit in” Kate grumbled and stood gingerly, stretching her back and rolling her shoulders.

“Your back was giving you a problem earlier in the office as well” Osgood pointed out. “Do you want me to get a doctor or physio..”

“Good grief no!” Kate was horrified by the suggestion and moved to sit on the sofa, lying back gently and folding her hands over her stomach. “It’s just old age and a different mattress and pillows”

Osgood brought the coffees over, sitting next to her, and weighed up her next words carefully. “Perhaps you should have a bath?” she cleared her throat and pushed her glasses up her nose.

Kate chuckled and turned her neck slowly to see the younger woman. “I didn’t bring my swimsuit, remember?” she teased.

“I meant on your own” Osgood blushed furiously. “I’ll keep working on the incoming data and shout on you if I see anything interesting”

“I can keep going for a while yet” Kate winced as she sat up straighter.

“You don’t need to do that with me,” Osgood said quietly, standing and returning to sit at the table. 

“Os?” the older woman asked as she realised she’d done something to annoy her friend.

“You don’t need to constantly be Kate Lethbridge Stewart” she emphasised the name. “Save the heroic leader stuff for when we’re actually in a field and getting shot at”

“Hey” Kate stood slowly and walked to stand behind Osgood. She rested her hands on the brunette’s shoulders, gently squeezing. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re in pain and it really doesn’t need both of us to stare at laptop screens until something happens” Osgood reached her left hand up to rest on top of Kate’s, sipping from her coffee cup in her other hand. “You could put yourself first for once”

Kate swallowed and took several shallow breaths before she could talk “You always look after me” she patted one shoulder and stepped back “You’ll let me know as soon as the results are back?” she double checked and took the harrumph of annoyance as enough of an answer to let her leave the room.

Osgood concentrated on the research she was doing, telling herself in a looped inner monologue that Kate was not in a bubble bath only feet away from her. She had almost succeeded in convincing herself when she heard the silence as the water stopped running and then a groan as Kate presumably lowered herself into the hot water. Dropping her head onto the table she groaned herself before taking a deep breath, she could do this. Opening the music file on her laptop she picked a relaxing playlist and hoped the cello music would cover any sounds from the bathroom.

Kate breathed slowly, letting her arms slide from the side of the bathtub to rest in the water. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could hear classical music from the other room but it was being drowned out by the blood pumping in her ears. The biologist in her head knew that the hot water and steamy atmosphere had caused her heart rate to increase to dissipate the increased temperature, the pragmatist in her head was patiently explaining that it was almost entirely down to the woman sitting in the other room. As muscles relaxed she felt a twinge in her lower back and couldn’t stop another groan as the knot finally unwound itself. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft music and letting her mind wander through scenarios for their first date. The planning had reached the point where she was trying to figure out if shared dessert was really appropriate for a first date when she heard a slight knock at her bedroom door. “Os?” she said, clearing her throat as she heard the huskiness.

Osgood rested her head on the wooden door, Kate was not making this any easier but she needed to get her scientist head back. “Sorry, the results are back and I think you’ll want to see them” she listened as water sloshed in the bathtub. “Take your time, I don’t think we’re looking at calling the troops out tonight”

“OK, give me five minutes” Kate splashed water in her face then ducked her head under the water, it had cooled down a little and she ran her hands through her hair when she sat up again. “Right, head back in the game” she muttered to herself and stood up, gingerly getting out of the tub and grabbing a large towel.

Osgood thanked the waiter who delivered another thermos of coffee and some biscuits to their room. She hoped that Kate wouldn’t notice that she’d switched them to decaf coffee about two hours ago, neither of them needed another sleepless night. Hearing the door behind her open she turned to offer a drink and nearly dropped the cup and saucer, Kate had emerged from her room wearing light coloured jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. “Em...I…” Osgood put down the crockery and stared.

Kate looked down to make sure she hadn’t spilled anything on herself then looked back up with a cocky grin on her face. “Everything alright?” she hadn’t expected that reaction but was vain enough to take it.

Osgood cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Yes, fine, you?” she heard the squeak in her voice and knew she was in trouble when Kate’s grin grew wider. “Coffee?” she pointed at the thermos and left Kate to serve herself, there was no way she was risking hot liquids being spilled by attempting to pour a cup for her. She settled herself in front of her laptop and brought up the relevant pages she had been researching.

Kate carried both cups over to the table, sitting them beside Osgood before pulling her chair round to sit next to her friend. “OK, what have we got?” she sipped from her cup.

“The scan suggests an alloy we haven’t seen before but I think it’s quite close to ruthenium” Osgood explained, seeking solace in the science that wasn’t confusing and heart-stopping.

“Humour me,” Kate said dryly, she really wasn’t in the headspace to remember her university metallurgy lectures.

“Right, sorry, of course,” Osgood was flustered again but it was her usual level of being the smartest one in the room. Kate was relieved to see her earlier reaction had been replaced by this more familiar behaviour. “Ruthenium is closely related to platinum and quite rare” she explained. “It can be found in Russia and Canada but never near here before now and not anywhere else nearby” she was getting into her stride now and felt more comfortable. “There is only one reading for it, or something quite like it”

“So definitely alien in origin then?” Kate reached across for her glasses and read the paper that Osgood had pulled up on her screen. “Properties seem to be suitable for a vessel of some kind, you think?”

“Could be, it is being used as part of an alloy so it might be the heatshield for something” Osgood chewed her bottom lip. “The probe is showing a similar signature so they seem to be connected”

“Alright, so where does that leave us?” Kate sat back and chewed the leg of her glasses. 

“If this is a crash site and they’ve sent some kind of recovery mission then we could just leave them alone to sort it out?” Osgood suggested. “Although there aren’t any life signs on any of the scales we’d normally find them and the team in London are scanning the solar system constantly to find any ships that could have launched the probe”

“You’re saying that there aren’t any overtly aggressive actions so just wait to see what happens?” Kate raised an eyebrow.

“Well apart from crashing on our planet twice in a few hundred years” Osgood pointed at another report that confirmed the age of the original incident as sometime in the 15th century. 

“It’s not another cube incident, where we’re being studied for an invasion?” Kate wanted to make sure, she had to make the final decision after all but relied on Osgood’s interpretation of the evidence as much as the scientific evidence itself.

“I checked our archive and there are no similar readings coming from either probe and all they’d have noticed this time is that we reacted a lot more quickly to this skyfall than the previous one” Osgood shrugged and shut down her laptop, turning to face Kate. “Having said that I don’t think my instincts are very reliable at the moment” she stared at her hands where they clutched at the hem of her t-shirt. 

“No?” Kate frowned and glanced down to see the nervous reaction from her friend. “You and I have been involved in many of these incidents over the years, that’s why we keep getting shipped around the world whenever something out of the ordinary happens” she reached out to lace her fingers in Osgood’s, stopping the clenching and unclenching. “And by out of the ordinary I mean by UNIT standards” she smiled and was relieved when Osgood twitched a smile in reply. “This doesn’t feel like a stealth invasion to me either, do you think my instincts are compromised as well?” she asked softly.

Osgood looked up quickly, pulling her hands away from Kate’s “No, well maybe a little bit?” she looked worried. “This thing between us” she waved her hand between them “It’s so new and different, aren’t you worried that it’s changed you?”

“Not worried, no” Kate sat back, giving the younger woman her space. “I’m rather hoping it does change me, for the better”

“I’m not sure the world is ready for you to be any better” Osgood sighed and relaxed. “But I know what you mean, I feel different but in a good way,” she moved to take Kate’s hand, holding it with both of her own. “I suppose I’m just worried that the ‘lonely, dedicated to working 24/7’ me would catch something that ‘soppy and dating’ me misses”

“I understand but I’m sure that we’ll both be aware of the risks, every decision we make has an effect but I think this one will be a positive change” Kate swallowed. “If you ever feel that it’s not then you must tell me, you know?”

“I know, and for goodness sake stop protecting me, I’m a big girl and can make my own decisions” the brunette sighed. “We should let London know what you want to do and then get some sleep”

Kate frowned “London can wait another few minutes” she stood and walked round to the windows, staring out as she had the previous night. “Come over here, beside me, please?” she asked quietly and heard Osgood getting up. “See all of those people down there?” she pointed to the pedestrians and traffic below them, Osgood leaned closer and nodded. “If I make the wrong decision tonight or over the next few days then they’ll probably be in the first wave to die from whatever is under that lake”

“What?” Osgood looked at her in shock.

“Or if I make the correct decision on this occasion but the wrong one next time then they’ll survive the first few days but die eventually when the planet blows up” Kate leaned her forehead against the cool window, rotating her head to look at a shocked Osgood by her side. “Every time we deal with a situation like this we collect the data and extrapolate what we can see and measure into a yes/no decision that has huge implications” she watched as Osgood visibly stopped herself from interrupting. “Even if it’s the correct decision there may be people who die as a result and we count the dead and injured and move onto the next emergency”

“What are you saying?” Osgood had given her time to continue but it didn’t seem likely.

“I’m saying that once a decision is made, with all of the available evidence and a lot of experience, then you live with the outcome of that decision if you’re lucky” Kate turned around, leaning her back against the window and sliding her hands into her pockets. “In that context, the decisions to take you out to dinner when we get home or to kiss you before going to bed tonight are fairly easy to make and I’m sure we’ll both live with the consequences be they good or bad”

Osgood furrowed her brow, figuring out what Kate was and wasn’t saying. “So you’re saying that deciding to kiss me will probably not result in the planet blowing up?”

Kate laughed “Something like that” she pushed off of the window, taking a step closer to her friend. “Let me call London and then we can decide together?” Osgood nodded and returned to her laptop, sending a few emails and generally trying to appear calm and collected despite the increase in her heart rate. “Blast” she muttered and wandered into her room to take a hit of her inhaler, she did not want to start wheezing at an inopportune moment mid-kiss.

Kate watched her go to the other room and frowned when she heard the inhaler. “Sorry, what was that?” she realised that the Colonel had stopped speaking, clearly having asked her a question. “No, that’ll be fine, let’s have them on standby ready to deploy but in the UK for now” she listened for a few more minutes before hanging up the call and dropping the phone into her pocket. Glancing back over to the bedroom she frowned and moved around the room switching off lights and putting cups and saucers back beside the coffee tray. When she couldn’t stretch these small housekeeping tasks out any longer she stood in the doorway of Osgood’s room and rapped on the frame. “Breakfast at 7 again?” she asked quietly as Osgood stepped out of the bathroom, drying her hands on a towel.

“Yes please” the younger woman nodded and threw the towel back into the bathroom. “Sorry, needed to brush my teeth after the inhaler” she muttered and went to put her hands into pockets that hadn’t miraculously appeared in her pajamas overnight.

Kate smiled at the awkwardness of it all and stepped into the room, leaning against the wall just inside the door. “You ok?” she asked quietly. “You’ve hardly used your inhaler since we got here”

“Yeah, just a preventative dose” Osgood took a few steps and ended up two steps away from Kate. “Everything OK at home?” she checked.

Kate nodded “We’ll take another trip up to the crash site in the morning and set up the monitoring matrix to allow us to keep an eye on it remotely”

“The colonel didn’t think the planet was about to blow up either then?” Osgood asked nervously. Kate shook her head. “So, did you come up with an answer on the other decision you were going to make tonight?” 

“Come over here and I’ll tell you” Kate suggested with a smile and a raised eyebrow. When Osgood took two quick steps to stand right in front of her she laughed. “How did I ever manage to resist you?” she mumbled and leaned down to gently kiss her.

Osgood took another step, pushing up against Kate who was effectively trapped against the door frame. “So soft” she groaned and returned the kiss less gently, hands resting on either side of Kate’s head against the wall.

Kate had reflexively placed her hands on Osgood’s hips when she’d moved closer and used this leverage to pull the other woman even more tightly against her. She closed her eyes, concentrating on breathing and trying not to forget a second of their first kiss. “Os?” she pulled back a minute or so later and breathed out the name.

Osgood was breathing heavily and about to close the tiny gap between them when she heard her name and drew back a little further. “Kate?” she asked, not entirely sure what they were asking each other but fairly sure that she wanted the answer to be more kissing.

“Completely worth it, even if the planet does blow up” Kate breathed and licked her lips.

“Shut up” Osgood grinned and leaned in again, moving her hands from the wall to rest in the blonde’s hair, still damp from the bath. She groaned as she was immediately swamped with some very graphic images of the bath with both of them in it. She forced herself to pull back again, breathing heavily and looking at Kate. “We have to stop” she growled, the words having an entirely different meaning to the action of her hands and hips.

“Why?” Kate finally opened her eyes and squinted at the squirming woman.

“Because we haven’t even had a proper date yet and this is just about my point of no return” Osgood blushed even more than she had from the kiss. “And I can’t believe I just said that out loud” she groaned and rested her forehead on Kate’s shoulder, slowly sliding her hands out of her hair and returning them to the wall.

“OK” Kate rolled her head back until it collided gently with the wall. “I’m warning you though, I find this sensible side of you adorable as well as insufferably frustrating” she squeezed the hips that were now slowly disengaging.

“Frustrating, that about covers it” Osgood took a step back, pushing herself away from the wall before putting her hands behind her back. “You’re good at that,” she said as she took a few more steps back, finding the distance was helping a little.

“Being snogged senseless?” Kate stood up from where she’d slouched against the wall, running her hands through her hair before sliding them into her pockets. 

“Funny” Osgood shook her head. “I believe I was the snoggee in that situation”

“We could try again to resolve….?” Kate suggested and grinned when Osgood made vague shooing motions at her. “OK, cold shower time, I understand” she held her hands in front of her as she slowly stepped back out of the room. “Have sweet dreams Os” she winked before turning and walking to her room.

“Kaaaate” Osgood groaned at the images now on a loop, adding the shower to the bath fantasies. She heard Kate laugh and moved to close her bedroom door, resting her head against it and swallowing. “I’m in trouble” she mumbled under her breath before heading to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any comments so far?


	3. Finland & London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wish that I actually wrote for Big Finish because it would be hilarious to make Ingrid Oliver have to learn the name of the wilderness park :)
> 
> Continuing slow burn as they try to figure out what is going on between them.

Osgood sat in the back of the large SUV, watching the monitoring beacons come online as they were installed and activated by the troops. “We’re about 50% of the way there,” she said as Kate walked towards the open door. 

“Excellent” Kate clapped her hands together to warm them. “How much longer till we’re done?” she glanced around at the groups of soldiers and technicians dotted on the landscape.

“Another hour should be enough” Osgood mumbled as she ran diagnostics on the latest beacon to be activated. 

“I’ll be with the Commander if you need me,” she said and walked off.

Osgood watched her walk away, her inner voice reminding her just how much she needed the blonde. Blowing her fringe out of her eyes she returned to her laptop, the sooner they managed to get the monitoring setup and the area quarantined the sooner they’d be able to return to London. Looking around she made sure there wasn’t anyone close before returning to a browser window and scanning a list of quiet, out of the way restaurants that were as far from the Tower as possible but still within a reasonable range of their homes. “Malcolm?” she answered her mobile, still concentrating on the restaurant listings. “OK, let me check this end” she switched her phone to speaker and put it down while she looked through the settings for the uplinks to London. “How is it now?” she asked and heard her friend’s voice confirming the problem had been resolved. “We should be heading back tomorrow so we can look at the artifacts from Brazil on Friday” she waited for his confirmation before signing off and sighing. “Two days to plan the perfect first date” she muttered to herself before checking on the status of the beacons.

“And you’re sure this will be enough to keep people away from the area?” Kate looked unconvinced that a couple of signs and one blocked pathway would be sufficient.

The commander smiled at her, he was becoming more relaxed around her. “Perhaps not in the UK but Finns like to obey signs and there are plenty of other paths to walk or cycle around out here” he gestured to the acres of open landscape around them.

Kate shrugged and rocked back onto her heels, her feet were cold even in the thermal socks and waterproof boots. “It’s your scene to contain commander, I’m sure you have it all under control”

“You’ll finish the handover with our technicians today?” he asked.

“Keen to get rid of us?” Kate smiled at him. “If everything goes to plan we can handover the monitoring tasks to your local team and get sign off from Geneva for us to fly home in the morning”

Several hours later they were all sitting in the office again, watching the network of beacons giving real-time readings on the large screens. “If there’s any movement from either probe we’ll get alarms from the nearest point” Osgood pointed to a table showing all green lights for now. “And if we detect signals or energy readings we’ll get a system alarm here” she pointed to the large dashboard at the bottom of the screen currently showing several zero readings. The technicians gathered around her all nodded and made final amendments to their notes.

Kate and the commander were standing at the back of the room, watching the activity. “If you see anything you don’t like the look of you can contact the Tower and we’ll provide whatever resources you need” she explained and checked her watch. “I need to call Geneva, explain where we are and hopefully get a green light on heading back to London” she smiled at him. “Not that it hasn’t been a pleasure, you have a beautiful country and your team are very efficient”

“Thank you ma’am” he nodded and smiled at her. “It was a pleasure to meet you in person and not have the world ending”

“Ah, yes, that’s always a good outcome” she checked her watch again. “I hope I wasn’t as daunting as I’m sure you were led to expect?”

“Actually several people gave me dire warnings of what would happen to me if anything should happen to either of you” he nodded towards Osgood as well. “And yes, there was mention of how forthright you are”

“I had no idea your command of the English language was so subtle” she grinned and headed towards the desk she was using.

Half an hour later Osgood glanced over at Kate, catching her eye and waiting for a signal to indicate how well her call was going. Kate rolled her eyes but smiled so Osgood assumed it was the usual bureaucracy but that it would be over soon. She answered a question raised by one of the technicians beside her and returned to explaining the latest testing regime they had implemented at the Tower for a particular type of meteorite only found in areas of extreme cold. She was immersed in discussions ten minutes later and didn’t hear Kate behind her, only realising who was approaching as the scientists sitting facing her suddenly sat up straighter in their seats and looked apprehensive. “Dr. Stewart, how can I help you?” she asked without turning around.

“Professor Osgood” Kate fought to keep the grin off her face. “We have agreement from Geneva to return to London, will you be ready to leave first thing in the morning?”

“Of course” Osgood nodded, still without turning around. She knew she’d be grinning ear-to-ear at the thought of another night in the hotel with Kate. “We’re nearly done here so we can head out whenever you’re ready to leave”

“Excellent, we can have our debrief after dinner this evening” Kate turned away before she could give the game away with her grin but heard Osgood coughing.

****************************************************

“That was mean, earlier,” Osgood said quietly in the lift as they headed to their room for the last evening. 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about” Kate kept her eyes on the ascending floor numbers.

Osgood waited until they were in the room, the security detail in the rooms on either side, before trying out a glare. She clearly didn’t give it her best as Kate just laughed and went into her bedroom to change. “Fine” Osgood huffed. “What do you want for dinner?” she raised her voice as she leafed through the room service menu, although it hadn’t changed from the beginning of their stay two nights ago.

“Pizza” Kate shouted from the room, pulling her t-shirt over her head and trying to flatten her hair a bit. She walked out to the main room and watched as the brunette turned to stare at her. “Ham and pineapple” she suggested.

“I’m delighted to say that it’s not on the menu” Osgood pushed her glasses into her hair and rubbed her eyes. 

“Perhaps they could get one delivered?” Kate sank into the sofa that had become hers during their stay. “Unless you want something else?” finally noticing Osgood’s less than enthusiastic response.

“No, that’s OK, I’ll call reception” Osgood could see Kate’s disappointment. “But I’m ordering two, no way am I eating pineapple on a pizza”

“Ah I knew there had to be something to spoil your perfection” Kate crossed her legs. “I had no idea you were a pizza snob”

Osgood rolled her eyes as she called down to reception and sorted out their order. She also called the room next door to explain to them that there would be a food delivery expected, telling them to add their items to the order if they wished as Dr. Stewart was paying for their dinner this evening. Turning back to Kate she shrugged at the raised eyebrow “It’s on expenses anyway” she headed to her own room. “I’m going to get changed and pack, what time are we leaving in the morning?”

“We leave here around 8 am, flight to Helsinki then a bit of a wait till the 2 pm flight to Heathrow” Kate checked the details on her phone. 

“OK, is there anything we need to work on this evening?” Osgood left the door ajar but made sure she was standing behind it as she started to undress.

“Debrief” Kate shouted and laughed as she heard Osgood drop one of her shoes. “Sorry, that always makes me smirk, dad would be having a fit!”

Osgood managed to avoid any more clothing mishaps and efficiently packed everything she wouldn’t need until they were home. Pulling on her pajamas she glanced in the mirror, taking a second to promise to buy herself some new pajamas so that Kate didn’t get bored seeing her in this pair. Seconds later she blushed as she had a much more pleasant plan of just not wearing pajamas all that often around the blonde. “Get a grip” she muttered to herself and wandered over to the small fridge, getting bottles of water for them both before sitting on her own sofa. “You do know that you need to stop that before we get back home, right?”

“Why?” Kate asked seriously, hoping that Osgood meant the teasing at work and not the kissing.

“Because these people don’t really know us so you can get away with teasing and making me blush here but our friends in London will catch on right away if you try it there” Osgood sipped her water and stretched her legs out on the sofa.

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that” the older woman admitted. “So we go back to you calling me ma’am and me pretending not to stare at you then?”

“At work, I think it’s probably a good idea” Osgood saw the other woman frown and suddenly wanted to put the smile back on her face. “I’ll call you Kate and you can stare if you want when we’re out to dinner together, in fact, I’ve drawn up a list of restaurants we can try out if you still want to?”

“What’s wrong with the place we went to with the team last time, they had good Italian food and a nice atmosphere?” Kate furrowed her brow even more.

“Well I just thought you’d want to go somewhere a bit further out” Osgood tried to figure out where they were getting confused. “I found some quiet places away from the Tower but not too far from our flats”

“You don’t want anyone to see us?” Kate asked quietly, suddenly not that hungry anymore.

“What?” Osgood was lost now. 

“I mean I wasn’t suggesting we hang a banner and hand out balloons at work to celebrate dinner together but I wasn’t really planning on skulking away and hiding” Kate tried to see it from the other woman’s point of view, the fewer people who saw them the less embarrassing it would be if Osgood decided not to go out with her again.

“I don’t want to hide either but you said we’d need to let Geneva know so I thought we could have a couple of dates without them finding out to see what we wanted to do” Osgood swung her legs around and sat on the edge of the sofa. “Trust me, I would never be embarrassed to be seen out with you, quite the contrary, but I want to protect your reputation in case you decide not to take this any further”

“My reputation for being a sarcastic control freak you mean?” Kate felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. 

“If it’s a problem I could cook dinner at my place” Osgood suggested softly.

“No, let’s leave that for another time, I want to take you out and have fun” Kate sighed. “I’ll need it after spending all day Friday in the office without being able to stare at you”

“I want to look at you too but we need to be circumspect, at least until we decide to fess up to Geneva and they agree to let us kiss officially” Osgood smiled.

“So” Kate looked at her clasped hands resting on her knee. “Restaurants?”

“Yes, let me get the list” Osgood stood and gathered her laptop, looking around briefly before choosing to sit down next to Kate. “This OK?” she checked as she opened the laptop.

“More than” Kate uncrossed her legs and slouched down a little, leaning towards the brunette until her head rested on her shoulder. “Bugger” she sighed and got up to retrieve her glasses before trying to sit in the same position.

“You should wear them on a chain” Osgood laughed as Kate swatted her stomach with the back of her hand.

“I’m not that old!” Kate flinched when she remembered that Osgood was only 40. “It’s not a problem?” she hadn’t even considered this in her ‘top 10 reasons she’d never want me’ list.

“12 years isn’t that bad” Osgood found the list she was looking for and turned to see Kate looking worried. “Oh come on, you think after all we’ve been through together that I’d worry about that?”

“It didn’t even occur to me, to be honest,” Kate admitted and shook her head. 

“It means we’re the same Chinese birth sign” Osgood grinned and was relieved to see Kate smiling as well. “So, what do you think about one of these on Friday?” she pointed to the restaurants. They spent 10 minutes going through the menus and agreed on an Italian place. Osgood quickly booked a table online and just glared when Kate protested that she should be the one doing the booking since she’d invited the younger woman out. The glare lasted long enough for Kate to run out of steam and she was glad when a knock on the door indicated that their pizza had arrived.

After they’d finished eating they returned to their own sofas and Kate frowned. “Would it be OK if I…” she motioned to Osgood. The younger woman nodded and smiled when Kate moved to sit down beside her. “I think I’ll miss this suite” she looked around before resting her head on Osgood’s shoulder.

“We’ll always have Pöyrisjärvi” Osgood grinned and removed her glasses to be able to see Kate squinting up at her.

“You keep saying that so I'll say that’s easy for you to say” Kate obliged with the obvious joke. “Is there anywhere you’d like to visit without the armed guards?” Kate asked quietly and played with the hem of Osgood’s top.

“You mean on a holiday?” Osgood waited for Kate’s nod and furrowed her brow. “Maybe somewhere quiet and warm, the opposite of London?” she leaned her head back and moved her arm from under Kate to wrap around her shoulders. “What about you?”

“Lying on the sand next to you” Kate chuckled. “Or anywhere with a decent museum or two but dry weather would be nice”

“Soppy” Osgood ran her hand up and down Kate’s right arm. “There isn’t much point having great holiday plans in our line of work, particularly together”

“Why?” Kate was concentrating on trying to sneak her fingers underneath Osgood’s t-shirt and therefore only paying partial attention to the conversation.

“Well it’s not like we could both disappear off for two weeks in August to lie beside a pool somewhere out of the way, is it?” Osgood knew what Kate was up to and was happy to let her continue for now. “And I don’t want anyone else lying beside me” she leaned down to kiss the top of Kate’s head.

Kate pulled back and stretched up for a proper kiss, having to cut it a lot shorter than she wanted because of the strange angle she was sitting at. “We’re two smart women, we can figure something out” she leaned in for another brief kiss before moving away, smirking when she heard a sigh from the younger woman. Positioning herself with her back against the other arm of the sofa she beckoned for Osgood to sit with her back against her, between her legs.

Osgood raised an eyebrow, in an unconsciously typically Kate way, before turning and shuffling backward until she lay against the older woman. She felt Kate’s arms settle around her waist and finally relaxed when Kate placed a gentle kiss on her neck. “Mmmmm” she moaned, not admitting that Kate had found one of her most erogenous zones but failing dismally in keeping the secret. She placed her hands on top of Kate’s briefly before letting them fall to rest on the thighs holding her tightly.

Kate kissed her neck again, slowly moving up until she could nibble on an earlobe. “How many dates do we need to go on?” she whispered in Osgood’s ear, loving the shiver that ran through the body pressing against her.

“What are you measuring?” Osgood asked breathily.

“How long till I can take your t-shirt off to touch you properly” Kate breathed against her ear.

“Damn” Osgood very rarely swore but it came in handy occasionally. “How quickly can you get sign-off from Geneva?” she arched back and felt Kate push against her hips. Osgood dug her fingers into Kate’s thigh and tried not to wriggle too much but the woman was infuriatingly precise with the kisses and nibbles on her neck and she was fighting a losing battle until Kate pulled back and breathed heavily. 

“Where’s my phone?” Kate asked and pulled her hands free to start disentangling them.

“Nope” Osgood turned in her arms and kissed her on the lips, ending up on top of a surprised blonde. “No Geneva calls, kiss me” she growled and wriggled some more to get her message across.

Kate took a moment to stretch out properly, sliding her hands into Osgood’s hair and holding her head once they had found their ideal snuggling positions. “Yes ma’am,” she said huskily before pulling them together again and sliding one hand down to rest on Osgood’s hip.

Several minutes later they ended up lying on their sides, facing each other with slow kisses and hands kept deliberately vague. Winding down from serious snogging to sloppy kisses Kate held onto Osgood to prevent her from rolling off the sofa. Osgood took a deep breath and pulled back from Kate “You’re really good at that” she sighed.

“So you keep saying, it’s not like I’ve had lots of practice” Kate looked shy “Perhaps you inspire me” she drew her thumb across Osgood’s jaw before resting her hand under her own head. “I do enjoy kissing you”

“I could tell” Osgood smiled and tucked several loose strands of hair behind Kate’s ear. “So not much practice?” she fished for details.

Kate blushed and focused on staring at her hand resting on Osgood’s hip. “Not in a long time, not many offers at bridge club” she smirked. “You?”

“Nope, I’ve never been propositioned at a bridge club either” Osgood’s tongue peeked out from her lips briefly. “And the last time I got hot and heavy with a woman was during my Ph.D. at Uni”

“Professor!” Kate giggled. “I am glad we finally figured this out though”

“I’ll be glad when we can be together properly at home” Osgood sighed before realising how that sounded. “I didn’t mean that….” she saw Kate’s eyebrow rise. “I mean, I’m not suggesting we move in together, that would be insane, it was more of a London being home thing than your actual home” she ran out of steam.

Kate pulled her against her and kissed her, leaving the younger woman slightly breathless. “Inhaler?” she asked gently and waited for Osgood to catch her breath after the shake of her head. “I knew what you meant and I want to be together properly too” 

*****************************************************

Friday night, 7 pm rolled around and Osgood hesitated outside the restaurant. She was half an hour early but really couldn’t face having another coffee at the overpriced chain across the road. She was talking herself into going in and waiting for Kate at their table. “She promised she’d get here as soon as she could” she muttered to herself. “Right, he’s a waiter, not a Cyberman, pull yourself together” the dressing down clearly worked as she found herself pushing the door open and smiling nervously at the young man who greeted her. “Table for two, Osgood, I’m a bit early” she hadn’t started unbuttoning her coat in case the waiter told her she was too early to be seated.

“Certainly madam” he smiled and held his hand out for her to follow him. “Your guest called ahead and asked that we have some hors-d'oeuvres ready for you” he held her chair and waited patiently as she took off her coat and handed it to him. “Can I get you something to drink while you wait?” he handed her a wine menu and she picked a dry white.

When the waiter returned with her drink and plate of appetizers she looked surprised. “Dr. Stewart, did she say if she was going to be delayed?” she worried that Kate hadn’t been able to extract herself from the conference call she’d been on when Osgood waved at her at 5.30 on leaving the Tower.

“No” he grinned and reached for his notepad, flicking through pages before he found what he was looking for and cleared his throat. “Please tell her that I’ll be on time but I knew she’d arrive too early” he smiled up at the shocked young woman. “And that I would know who you were because you’d be the most beautiful women in the restaurant” he flipped the notebook closed and returned it to his back pocket. Stepping forward he leaned a little closer “She was right” he whispered before stepping back. “My name is John and if there is anything at all I can get for you please don’t hesitate to let me know, I hope you enjoy your appetizers” with a bow he turned and walked away, leaving Osgood blushing in shock as she sipped her wine.

Kate arrived 20 minutes later, smiling at John as he greeted her and leaving her coat with him at the door as she strode towards their table. “Sorry I wasn’t early enough” she winked and leaned down to kiss Osgood’s cheek before sitting across from her. 

“It’s OK, John has been keeping me amused and plied with drink” Osgood smiled into her wine glass as Kate leveled a stage 4 glare at the waiter as he approached. “Oh stop it, he’s been very helpful” 

Kate relented slightly and was polite to the nervous waiter, ordering a bottle of the wine Osgood was drinking and quickly ordering food. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to say hello today” she leaned across and touched Osgood’s hand. “Geneva had a bit of a panic over the Brazil artifacts and wanted the latest on Finland” Kate shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the back of chair.

“That’s OK, I was busy with the Brazil finds anyway” Osgood sipped slowly, she was a glass ahead of Kate and not so used to drinking wine.

Kate sighed as her wine was poured and took a drink “Perfect” she nodded as John placed the bottle into a cooler beside the table. “So, we finally made it” she toasted Osgood and kept eye contact as she drank again.

“Here we are” Osgood swallowed nervously. 

Kate leaned forward again, resting her hand on top of Osgood’s “Is everything OK, with us being here together I mean?” Kate was worried.

“Yes” Osgood tried to smile but it obviously wasn’t very successful. “I don’t know why I’m nervous, especially after the other night” she blushed.

“It’s just me, we’re going to have a nice dinner and then you’ll argue but eventually let me pay” Kate held up her hand to forestall the argument, “And then you’ll let me walk you home and I’ll kiss you and want to do more but ultimately I’ll behave myself” Kate smiled at the snort of amusement from the younger woman.

“At which point I’ll call the Tower and ask them to scan the area to see which alien had kidnapped and replaced you” Osgood smiled and then looked at her in horror.

“I know” Kate held both of Osgood’s hands in hers. “I know, but we both lived to fight another day”

John coughed quietly when he was several steps away and was relieved when they both sat back looking a little happier. He placed their plates in front of them and topped up the wine glasses, winking at Osgood and pleased when she smiled. “Anything else madam?” he checked with Kate and left them to it when she shook her head.

“At least he’s better at flirting with you than Carter” Kate shook her head and started her dinner.

The waiter was outright laughing as the two women argued over who was paying the bill. “I’m almost tempted to pay it myself if you promise to come back next Friday” he grinned as they both looked at him in shock. Kate recovered first and handed him her card. Osgood left a hefty tip and thanked him when he held her coat. “My pleasure” he assured her and held Kate’s open as well but she smirked and took it from him, folding it over her arm.

“He was not flirting” Osgood was trying not to laugh as they walked back towards her flat. “He was just being nice and took pity on me when I arrived”

“He was flirting!” Kate insisted and bumped her shoulder against Osgood’s. “I can’t say I blame him, you look lovely with your hair down like that”

“Soppy” Osgood blushed and bumped Kate back. “He would have flirted with you if you hadn’t scared the snot out of him when he first came over”

“I was making it clear that his duty of care towards you was complete” Kate protested. She glanced both ways before taking Osgood’s hand as they crossed the road and wandered down a quieter street, “Tonight was fun, thank you”

“Thank you” Osgood squeezed her hand. “Sorry for being a bit nervous when you arrived” she swallowed. “I know we spent most of this week together but it did feel like a first date, does that make sense?”

“Of course, I felt the same” Kate assured her, lifting their joined hands to kiss the back of Osgood’s. “I like that we feel different outside of work, that’s kind of the point?”

“It is” the younger woman nodded. “I’ve been feeling nervous all day” she admitted quietly.

“I’ve been remembering kissing you the other night, but mainly to avoid telling Geneva exactly what I think of their suggestions” Kate looked up and stopped walking, pulling Osgood closer to her. “This is your place?” she pointed to the steps in front of them.

“Already?” Osgood looked around, surprised to have covered that much distance. “That was quick” she looked disappointed then asked shyly “Would you like to come up for a drink, it’s early still?”

Kate looked at her, left eye squinting as she tried to calculate the difference between what she wanted and what she thought she should do. Nodding after several seconds she nodded “If you’re sure?” she checked.

“I did tidy up earlier just in case” Osgood blushed a little. “But if you’d rather get an early night I’ll understand”

“I’d rather spend some more time with you on our first date” Kate assured her and followed the young woman upstairs.

Osgood took Kate’s coat and hung it up, gesturing towards the sofa “Did you want some more wine or tea?”

“Do you have any decaf coffee?” Kate asked as she turned her head to the side to read the titles of the books on the first bookshelf she came across. A couple of minutes later she was looking through the second bookcase and smiled as she was handed a mug. “Thanks, you have a very eclectic collection” she gestured to the books.

“Years of insomnia and discovering that new subjects are more relaxing than my areas of expertise” Osgood shrugged and pointed to a shelf containing gardening books. “I’ve never had a garden of my own but I did spend several months learning about horticulture”

“You’re welcome to practice in my garden” Kate sipped her coffee. “Perhaps not the archaeology though, too many trenches”

“You’d better stop looking before you get to the art of embalming corpses” Osgood grinned at the surprised look. “I went through a phase on ancient Egyptology” she shrugged.

Kate took the hint and moved to sit on the sofa, trying to hide the look of disappointment when Osgood chose to sit in the armchair instead of beside her. “So how are we doing on a scale of 1 to 10?” she asked.

“For a first date?” Osgood checked they were talking about the same thing. “6, you?” she gulped some tea and looked nervous.

“Only a 6?” Kate looked worried. “I was going to say 8 or 9!” she looked around before putting her mug down on a side table, sitting forward. “What do I need to do to get the score up?” she almost managed to keep a serious look on her face but the twinkle in her eye gave her away and she grinned as Osgood raised an eyebrow. 

“I scored our last night in Finland as a 9” Osgood hid her smile behind her tea. “And we only kissed so…” she trailed off to let Kate figure it out herself.

“That wasn’t a date and what do you mean we only kissed!?” Kate stood and removed her jacket, resting it on the back of the sofa. “I distinctly remember you feeling me up” she rolled up her shirt sleeves before sitting down again. She sat back and crossed her legs, daring the younger woman to deny the accusation.

Osgood loved seeing Kate like this, confident and ready for anything. She just wasn’t sure she was quite as confident. “I hadn’t forgotten” she put her mug carefully on the floor. “I doubt I’ll ever forget” she admitted. “But it all seemed a bit safer when we were there” she frowned, that hadn’t been quite what she meant to say. 

“You don’t feel safe now?” Kate didn’t appear to move but was obviously now a lot more tense than she had been seconds before. “We don’t have to do anything if you…”

“No” Osgood interrupted her. “I’m sorry that wasn’t what I meant” she stood and paced a few steps, running her hands through her hair. “Of course I feel safe with you, always, well unless we’re being attacked by lizard warriors from the dawn of time” she blew out a breath. “But we had agreed that we wouldn’t go any further before we’d had a proper date and well we’ve just had a proper date and now here we are and you’re over there looking gorgeous doing that insanely sexy thing you do and I’m just……” she eventually ran out of breath and couldn’t continue the stream of consciousness that she had inadvertently unleashed on the woman she would really rather be kissing than confusing right now. She took a quick pull from her inhaler and slowed her breathing down as much as she could.

“You’re just Osgood,” Kate said gently, not moving and letting Osgood get her breathing back to normal. “Actually you’re just Os right now” she smiled and patted the cushion beside her. “We don’t need to do anything other than hold hands if that’s all you’re ready for, although you are rather fantastic at the kissing thing” Kate put her arm along the back of the sofa and let Osgood slide in beside her, gently draping her arm across her shoulders. “This is enough for me, just getting to have a nice dinner and a hug afterward is more than I hoped for all those months” she admitted, dropping a kiss on Osgood’s head and squeezing her shoulder.

“I’m an idiot” Osgood mumbled.

“Never” Kate replied.

“I’m an idiot and I’m sorry, I don’t know why I keep fighting this when all I really want is to be this close” she stroked her right hand up Kate’s thigh. “I have this idea that we should wait until some societally acceptable third date before we get naked but in our line of work that doesn’t really fit” she felt Kate tense her thigh under her fingers as she continued to run her nails up and down the outside of her thigh. “I mean we don’t really spend any time doing what society expects of us because they don’t know we exist”

“We do have the Ravens, people expect them” Kate suggested and then closed her eyes to berate herself for interrupting. She knew that Osgood was talking herself around to the idea of more than kissing and was annoyed to have stopped that process.

“Exception to prove the rule?” Osgood posited and looked up to see if Kate was in agreement. “OK so since we could be called to our next mission at any moment I think I’d like to seize this moment and kiss you again” she pulled back and graced Kate with the recently classified ‘Osgood’s stubborn level 3’ challenging look in her eyes.

“I’m not sure of what’s going on inside that magnificent brain of yours sweetheart but I want to kiss you and anything else you come up with” Kate helped Osgood to sit up and then realised what she’d said. “Is sweetheart OK, it just sort of slipped out?” she swallowed nervously as Osgood moved towards her.

“You can call me anything you want so long as it’s not my first name” Osgood leaned in to kiss her and forestall any more discussion.

Ten minutes later Kate was lying out on the small sofa, wincing as she tried to stretch her lower back. “I’m sorry,” she said for the fifth time.

Osgood stood beside the sofa, breathing heavily but in control and looking mortified. “It’s my fault, what can I do to help?” she fussed.

Kate tried a slightly deeper breath and was relieved when she succeeded without triggering stabbing pain in her back. “I’ll be fine, just give me a hand?” she held out her hand and let Osgood pull her upright. “Ooff that’s a bit better” she ran her fingers through her hair. “Give me a minute and we can get back to….”

“No way” Osgood looked shocked at the suggestion she thought Kate was about to make. “You are in real pain” she pointed out as if Kate hadn’t noticed herself.

“It was just the angle I was lying at” Kate protested, although she knew it would take several days for the strain to calm down properly. 

“What would you normally do to help it?” Osgood moved towards the kitchen. “I don’t really have anything stronger than paracetamol here” she started to rummage through her first aid kit.

“Ah,” Kate said quietly and when Osgood went back into the living room she saw her blushing. At the younger woman’s raised eyebrow she blew out a breath carefully. “Honestly I usually take a hot shower, large whisky and straight to bed” she looked embarrassed. “If you call me a taxi I can get moving” she pushed her hands down beside her on the sofa. 

“Why?” Osgood sat on the armchair, looking at her in confusion. “I have a very good shower, some decent whisky and quite a comfortable bed” 

“Os” Kate started to make objections.

“And I promise not to take advantage of you” Osgood grinned and stood up to get the whisky. “Stay there and I’ll get everything ready”

Kate tried to get up herself but gave up when she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep the swearing quiet enough to avoid Osgood hearing her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax the muscles that were spasming.

Osgood walked back into the room after changing the bed. She was about to ask what help Kate needed when she stopped, staring at the woman who was clearly in pain but holding herself together with some effort and some muttered swearing. She looked a little pale, lines around her eyes standing out as she winced again. “I’m quite glad I never learned to lip read,” Osgood said quietly and saw Kate smile and slowly open her eyes. “Shower or whisky first?”

“Whisky please” Kate knew she wasn’t going to win any arguments on where she’d spend the night. “Thanks” she sipped from the crystal tumbler, looking up in surprise “That is better than decent whisky, I didn’t know you drank it”

“I don’t” Osgood sat on the arm of the sofa “My father visits and that’s his personal glass and supply”

“Ah, he has excellent taste” Kate sipped again.

“Does this happen often?” Osgood asked, waving in the general direction of Kate’s back.

“Well it’s never happened on a sofa while I was kissing a beautiful woman before” Kate tried to sit back a little and was relieved when the movement didn’t immediately give her stabbing pain. “I think the last time was when I dived into that crater in France” she sipped again and savoured the smokey taste of the whisky as its warmth moved through her.

“Ah, I wasn’t there for that, before my time” Osgood shrugged. Kate looked at her, confused for a moment before her eyes closed and she bowed her head for a second or two. Looking back up she saw Osgood looking at the floor. 

Kate sighed. “Sorry”

“No need for you to apologise, I never knew Jac but lots of people have said she was really good at her job” Osgood shifted. “Was she a friend outside of work too?” 

“We were getting there” Kate nodded and then looked up sharply. “Not like us though, she was completely straight and definitely not my type”

“I didn’t mean…” Osgood looked confused as she had no idea how the conversation had ended up here.

“I know” Kate moved to put down the empty tumbler and took in a sharp breath as the pain returned. “I’m fine” she motioned for Osgood to stay where she was. “It feels a bit better” she tried a smile.

Osgood shook her head and moved to stand in front of the grimacing woman. “How do you want to do this?” she asked and got a confused scowl in reply. “Do I help you to stand up and leave you to it or do you need help to get into the shower?”

“I don’t know” Kate admitted, blushing a little which was more obvious on her pale skin. “Let’s try standing up and we’ll take it from there” she held up her hands and let Osgood pull her upright. “OK” she gulped a couple of times and made sure she could take one step before letting go. “After you” she carefully took small steps, holding onto the back of the chair as she followed Osgood to the bathroom. “Oh thank goodness” she sighed as she saw the walk-in shower, there was no way she’d have been able to step into a bathtub. 

“Do you need help with anything else?” Osgood vaguely motioned towards Kate’s chest.

Kate watched the younger woman blush before she finally figured out that she was being offered help to undress. “I should be OK for now, thanks” 

“OK, if you need help please shout on me?” Osgood was sure her entire body was flushed but she needed to make sure Kate was safe. “I’ve left some clothes over the towel rail, probably more comfortable to sleep in” she pointed towards them. “I’ll turn the shower on, do you want it warm or hot?”

“Hot please, and thank you, for everything” Kate leaned precariously against the sink, taking shallow breaths.

“No problem, take your time” Osgood cautioned, turning on the shower and leaving the room.

Thirty minutes later Kate was cursing and Osgood was learning a lot of new words. “Another pillow?” Osgood ignored the ridiculously long legs she had lifted into the bed, the shorts she had loaned as pajamas had seemed like a sensible idea at first but she was regretting it now. 

Kate swore again and then put her hand out. “Sorry” she managed through gritted teeth and held onto Osgood’s hand. “This is why you should find yourself a younger woman rather than wasting time on a decrepit old thing like me” she closed her eyes and willed herself to relax.

“Well I admit it’s not how I pictured getting you into bed the first time but at least you’re here” Osgood squeezed the hand she still held and waited until Kate opened her eyes to look at her. “I’m going to ignore the self-pity and put it down to the pain you’re in” she let go of the hand and carefully pulled the quilt up. “And I remind you that I had to get you liquored up to even get you this far” she walked around the bed and carefully slid into the other side.

Kate turned her head to look at the brunette. “I really don’t deserve you,” she said and held her hand out.

Osgood moved a little closer, she was suddenly glad that she’d chosen a king sized bed even if it had only ever held her until tonight. She had some space between them and wouldn’t be crowding Kate. “Promise me you’ll wake me up if it gets any worse?” Osgood held onto Kate’s hand, gently running her thumb over the knuckles. “I know it would be an HR nightmare but the Tower medics would be able to give you something better than whisky for the pain and spasms”

“No” Kate squeezed Osgood’s hand. “I’m not just being stubborn” she ignored Osgood’s snort. “I’ve had this before and a night of rest usually helps loosen it off a bit”

Osgood shook her head before turning onto her back. “Do you have anywhere you need to be in the morning?” she asked, staring at where the ceiling would be if she hadn’t taken her glasses off and could see it. “I can set the alarm?”

“Nope, I cleared my schedule for tomorrow” Kate slurred a little, the couple of additional whiskys she’d taken after the shower were hitting her system now.

“Confident, weren’t you?” Osgood teased her gently and heard her huff out a laugh before groaning slightly at the movement. “Go to sleep, I hope you feel better soon” Osgood listened to the breathing beside her for several minutes before it evened out and she felt Kate relax. Allowing herself a small indulgence she turned onto her side, facing the older woman and looking properly at the relaxed features, the hair even messier than usual. “Yep, I’m in trouble alright” she sighed before closing her eyes.

*************************************************************

It was a week later before they were able to have dinner together again, Osgood had ended up having to go to Brazil to look at several more artifacts in situ. Kate had been unhappy about having to send someone but she was struggling enough to just sit behind her own desk that it was clear to everyone that she wasn’t able to head back out to the field yet. “Are you sure you’re up to going out tonight?” Kate asked again.

“I was able to sleep on the flight home and Sao Paulo is only four hours behind GMT” Osgood explained again, fumbling through papers on her desk to find what she was looking for. “There it is” she muttered and put the page of results into the folder she had in her hand before holding it out to Kate. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m better thanks” Kate shrugged. “I thought we could leave together if that’s OK?” 

“Sure, I’ll come to your office around 6.30?” Osgood was busy with another file and didn’t bother looking up.

Kate leaned against the doorframe for a few seconds more before turning to head for her own office. She was fairly sure she’d blown any chance at a relationship other than friendship with the brunette the previous weekend. Despite feeling a lot better on Saturday morning they had chatted over breakfast and not made any plans when Kate headed back to her own flat. Keeping busy on Sunday by carefully doing housework that didn’t strain her back she had occasionally checked her mobile phone for messages but hadn’t received any before the afternoon call from the office that triggered the need for Osgood to travel on Monday morning.

“Ma’am?” Osgood said quietly, not wanting to disturb Kate who appeared to be asleep while wearing her Bluetooth headset. 

Kate opened one eye and waved the young woman into her office, holding up one finger. “I completely agree Minister but unless you want me to take a UNIT squadron to South America there is nothing I can do about it today” She winked at Osgood as the spluttering on the other end of the phone indicated that Her Majesty’s Government weren’t terribly keen on mounting an armed invasion of an ally. “I’ll have my team update you in the morning” 

Osgood laughed as she watched Kate hit the end call button with a little more violence than was strictly necessary. “That was mean, even for you” she suggested.

“He’s been waffling in my ear for two hours” Kate complained. She stood up and stretched very carefully. “Sorry” she groaned. “Let me just log out and we can get going”

“Take your time,” Osgood said. “You said the table was booked for 7.30”

“Yes, but I don’t mind getting there a bit early, I missed lunch” she pulled on her raincoat and made sure that she had everything in her messenger bag.

“Let me” Osgood took the strap from her hand and slid it over her own shoulder. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in your back continuing to be OK” she smiled again as Kate’s mouth closed on the complaint she was about to make. “After you?” Osgood waited until Kate had preceded her from the office before walking beside her down the corridor.

Kate walked briskly to the exit, smiling at the security guard who held the door open for them. “I haven’t tried this place before, I hope it’s OK” she looked around before signaling at a passing taxi. “After you” she smiled as she held the door open for Osgood to step up into the taxi. Giving the driver the address she sat back and buckled into her seat belt. “I always worry that they’ll drive as badly as Captain Carter” she whispered to Osgood who laughed and rested her hand on the seat between them. Kate rested hers on top and they both looked out their windows as they headed towards the restaurant.

“And then he realised that the anaconda was right behind him and screamed like one of the Ravens when they’re faulty” Osgood was laughing and wiping her eyes with her napkin. “Honestly I don’t know how I managed not to laugh and I’m sure I could see several of his troops coughing to cover their own laughter” she sat back and sipped the last of her wine.

“Oh now I’m really sorry I missed the trip” Kate laughed then looked worried. “Although I’m not all that keen on snakes myself so I’d have probably been screaming too”

“Surely not” Osgood leaned her chin on her hand, leaning forwards and speaking more quietly. “The formidable Dr. Lethbridge-Stewart would have had the snake screaming and scarpering up the tree”

“I think your levels of sass are dangerously high” Kate smirked at her friend and waved the waiter over, asking for the bill.

Osgood took the bill from the waiter when he returned and raised an eyebrow as Kate started to argue before paying the bill. “Thank you” she smiled politely as the waiter held her coat for her as Kate struggle into her own. “Why do they always help me with my coat first?” she asked as they exited into a surprisingly warm London evening.

“Because every waiter in London wants to flirt with you?” Kate suggested and looked around for a taxi. “Would it be OK if we walked for a while, we’ll probably get a taxi nearer the main road anyway?”

“Of course, it’s a nice night” Osgood slung Kate’s messenger bag onto her shoulder again and held her hand out for Kate.

“My place is closer this evening,” Kate said quietly as they strolled down the street. She didn’t get a reply but turned to see Osgood grinning as she stared ahead of them. “OK then” 

“Your garden is lovely” Osgood stood on a stone patio, sipping her coffee and trying to remember the names of all of the flowers around them. “I’ll need to bring my book next time to remind me of the varieties”

“It’s better in the summer but I’m quite pleased with the length of the season this year, it’s been mild enough for a lot of the flowers to keep going” Kate sat in one of the straight-backed chairs at the garden table, legs crossed and enjoying the look on Osgood’s face more than her garden.

Osgood turned round to look at her. “You’re beautiful” she surprised herself by letting the words spill out.

“As are you” Kate smiled at her, not wanting to push anything too quickly after last week’s fiasco.

“How is your back, really?” Osgood sat down beside Kate and placed her cup on the table. 

“It’s not 100% but I’m able to do most of what I want without pain” Kate watched Osgood chew her bottom lip. “I did discover that lying in bed this week definitely helped me to relax” she dropped a hint.

Osgood assumed Kate was saying that she only wanted to relax in her own bed and looked disappointed. “That sounds like a good plan then, I should head home and let you get some rest”

Kate slid her hand over Osgood’s “Stay, please?” Kate tried to make eye contact but Osgood was staring at the table top. “I know I made a mess of our first date, please let me make it up to you?”

“I don’t want you to hurt your back again” Osgood finally looked up, her face was a bit flushed. “Maybe we could just sleep?” she suggested, not really wanting to head home and hoping they would get some opportunity to cuddle up at some point.

“Os,” Kate said quietly and lifted Osgood’s hand to let her kiss the back of it. “I would be honoured if you would stay with me tonight and I promise we will do as much or as little of whatever you’re comfortable with” she held up her index finger to forestall the interruption. “Perhaps we can start in bed though, my sofa is longer than yours but I don’t really want to risk it” Osgood nodded and they sat for several more minutes enjoying the evening light in the garden and finishing their drinks. 

Kate took her hand after they had locked the doors and put off the lights, leading her to the bedroom. “No pressure” she whispered before leaning down and kissing the brunette slowly, deepening the kiss when it was clear that Osgood was enjoying it too.

Osgood moaned and started to unbutton Kate’s shirt, her favourite colour and just four buttons lay between her and finally seeing what lay beneath its soft cotton. “OK?” she confirmed that Kate was happy with her actions and was met with a much deeper kiss than before, pulling them even closer together. 

This time it was Kate who moaned and took a couple of steps backward until she felt the bed behind her, able to pull Osgood between her legs. “I want this so much” she breathed heavily when Osgood pulled back a little to finish unbuttoning the shirt, pulling the open sides out of the trousers and letting it hang open.

“Beautiful” Osgood breathed out and slid her hands inside the shirt, caressing ribs and moving up towards breasts which were moving as Kate fought to catch her breath. “So soft and warm,” the younger woman said in wonder before cupping both of Kate’s breasts and glancing her thumbs across the nipples which were visible through the bra.

Kate sat down on the bed, using her new position to unbutton Osgood’s shirt “I don’t want you to have high expectations” she said quietly, leaning forwards to kiss the young woman’s stomach. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve done anything like this” she looked up to see Osgood watching her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like this” Osgood ran her fingers through Kate’s hair. “I mean obviously I’ve done things but I’ve never felt like this before”

“Things?” Kate raised an eyebrow. She grinned as Osgood blushed and reached out to wrap her arms around her waist. “I would very much like to do things with you” she mumbled around kissing Osgood’s cleavage. 

“Less clothing would be good” Osgood suggested, taking a step back and toeing off her shoes. “Do you need a hand?” she asked as Kate hadn’t moved.

“No I can cope” Kate shook her head and stood up to drop her trousers to the floor. Her shirt and bra followed. Walking around the bed she switched on a small lamp and slid under the quilt. “Unless you want the light off?” she asked nervously.

“No, I like looking at you” Osgood rolled her eyes at how that sounded. “Honestly I’ve never been suave but I’m not usually this rubbish either”

“I like that you feel comfortable enough to be ridiculously sappy” Kate grinned and held back the quilt for Osgood to slide under.

“Shut up” Osgood sighed and wrapped her arm around Kate’s waist before leaning over and kissing her. “OK?” she pulled back to check briefly and leaned back in to continue on Kate’s nod.

Several minutes later they were lying facing each other, Osgood lightly stroking her fingers up and down Kate’s ribs while Kate moved hair out of Osgood’s eyes. “I got a bit of a hint in Finland but you have a beautiful figure” Kate smiled. “Even better than I imagined”

“That’s why I wear a lab coat” Osgood nodded. “It’s to stop everyone knowing what a babe I am” she smirked.

“I’m being serious” Kate protested and leaned in to kiss her again. She moved from her lips, along her jaw to her neck. Her hand slid down Osgood’s arm, tangling their fingers together when she reached her hand. “I was worried that you’d given up on me after last week” Kate mumbled as she kissed down towards the beautiful breasts.

Osgood could feel her breathing hitch, she knew she wasn’t going to need her inhaler but wanted to slow down her body’s reactions a little before this all ended too quickly. “I didn’t want to hurt you” she breathed and slid her hand into Kate’s hair, catching hold of her head and guiding her gently towards the closest nipple. “But I’ve wanted this for an embarrassingly long time so please don’t stop” she rolled onto her back to give Kate access to both breasts and whatever else she wanted.

“Not stopping,” Kate said quickly between licking one nipple and moving to the other. 

“Damn that feels good” Osgood squirmed.

“Harder?” Kate blew on the nipple she’d just licked to a peak.

“No, no, no” Osgood clenched her fist in Kate’s hair again, not causing pain but claiming a tiny bit of control back. “Perfect now” she sighed out as Kate returned to licking the other nipple. 

A couple of minutes later Kate pulled back and looked confused as she stared at Osgood’s closed eyes and moving lips. “What are you doing?” she asked, giving up on trying to figure out what Osgood was silently mouthing.

“What?” Osgood shook her head and opened her eyes, only now realising that Kate wasn’t doing that thing with her tongue anymore. “Why did you stop?” she loosened her fingers. “Oh did I hurt you?” 

“No” Kate took her hands and kissed all of the fingertips one at a time. “You were muttering and then quietly listing something” she smiled. “Was I boring you?”

“Oh god” Osgood blushed harder than she’d ever seen before but this time Kate could follow it down her cleavage and onto her breasts. “I am so sorry, I’m such an idiot” Osgood tried to sit up and Kate rolled to her side. 

“Hey, it’s fine, I’m just intrigued” she brushed Osgood’s hair away from her forehead, reaching out to wrap an arm across her hips. “It’s OK if you don’t want to tell me” she reassured the young woman who looked close to tears.

“Saturn’s moons” Osgood whispered.

“Pardon?” Kate pulled back a little and grinned at the woman. 

“I was running through Saturn’s moons in my head” Osgood was miserable. “Well it was supposed to be in my head” Osgood tried to tuck her head into Kate’s shoulder.

“Is this some weird kink that you young folk are into?” Kate bit her lip to stop from laughing out loud at the shocked look she got in answer. “I’d rather be in bed not kissing you than anyone else but I’d really much rather be in bed kissing you” and she kissed Osgood until she felt the woman relax against her.

Osgood pulled Kate’s hip closer, opening her legs to let her slip a thigh between hers. “Kate” she mumbled around the increasingly sloppy kisses. “Please?” she ground up against the older woman.

“Fuck” Kate hissed and rested on her forearms on either side of Osgood’s shoulders. “Can I touch you?” she asked hoarsely. Osgood groaned and reached down to slide her fingers towards Kate’s clit. “Fuck” Kate had meant to touch her but then decided that words were overrated and went back to messy kisses between swearing.

Osgood wriggled for a second or two to make room for her hand to squeeze between their slick bodies. She wasn’t sure when they had both removed their underwear but it was probably around the time she had her head stuck in naming space rocks. The plan to delay her orgasm had seemed sound at the time but she decided that she was much more interested in concentrating on pushing Kate towards an orgasm instead. She was about to ask Kate if what she was doing was OK when Kate grunted and her hips started grinding against her thigh. Osgood sucked Kate’s bottom lip into her mouth and nipped it gently, watching as Kate opened her eyes to squint at her through eyelashes that she couldn’t ever remember being so long. “So beautiful” she sighed and turned her hand slightly, a finger sliding either side of Kate’s clit and continuing lower until she could dip the tip of her fingers inside Kate, who found the heel of Osgood’s hand served as the perfect mix of soft and unyielding to grind her clit against.

“Os” Kate growled and kissed the younger woman as much as she could while still breathing. “Fuck Os” she moved to bury her head in Osgood’s neck and grab her shoulders for the last piece of leverage she needed to push her over the edge. 

Osgood’s left hand was resting in Kate’s hair, holding her gently against her shoulder. She tried wiggling the fingers on her right hand but this caused a growl she felt against her sternum as Kate twitched with aftershocks. “Kate” she whispered after a few more seconds had passed. “Are you alright?” she kissed the top of the messy blonde hair.

“Actually I think you have fried several neurons and I may take some time to recover” was what Kate said inside her head. “Sleepy” was what was actually heard by the brunette woman underneath her. “Sorry” 

“No need to apologise love but if you don’t let me rescue my hand soon I won’t be able to feel my fingers for a while” Osgood waited a second or two then decided to take the matter into her own untrapped hand. Wrapping her across arm Kate’s shoulders she pulled as the rest of her body pushed and managed a surprisingly elegant roll that left them on their sides facing each other. Osgood slowly removed her thigh from between Kate’s and flexed her fingers before rotating her wrist, wincing slightly at the cracks and crunching noises coming from her joints. 

Kate blinked and shook her head a little “You OK?” she asked, running her hands through her own hair that seemed to be even more chaotically messy than usual.

“You’re perfect” Osgood grinned and waited for Kate to recover more than her basic functions.

“Hardly” Kate laughed and rolled onto her back, one forearm across her eyes as she catalogued all of the parts of her body that still tingled from her first orgasm in a long time. “I was trying to seduce you, how did I end up seeing stars and coming like a freight train that quickly?”

“You weren’t reciting Saturn’s moons in order” Osgood tried to keep a straight face but failed dismally when she saw Kate remove her arm and pin her with a force 10 glare. “I didn’t want everything to be over too quickly so I remembered an old trick I had when I first started sleeping with people at University” 

“Isn’t that a guy thing?” Kate asked dryly “The delaying tactics I mean”

“It’s not for the same reasons, honestly” Osgood tangled their hands together as Kate rolled onto her side to face her again. “I know we’ll have more than one orgasm each tonight if that’s what we want, but I just really enjoy letting the anticipation build before that first one, you know?”

“Apparently not” Kate rolled her eyes. “Although I’ve been anticipating tonight with you for the past three weeks so perhaps that was long enough”

Osgood pulled the quilt up over them, she was starting to get cold now that they weren’t being quite so energetic. “You’ve said before that you’d wanted us to go out for a while” she stroked her fingers up and down Kate’s arm. “Why did you finally do something about it?”

Kate kissed her slowly before pulling back and looking at her “You were brave enough to come out to me and my idle daydreams suddenly had the number one obstacle removed from them becoming reality”

“You could have asked?” Osgood was enjoying the closeness and discussion as much as she’d always imagined enjoying being naked with this woman but in a completely different way.

“So could you” Kate smiled and wriggled until her knee was in the perfect position for her plan.

“It is kind of career limiting to unsuccessfully proposition your boss” Osgood could feel Kate getting into position and pulled back a little with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t want to lose my memories of the past few years and find myself confused and working in a school science lab”

Kate looked confused as to why Osgood kept moving away. “I wouldn’t have done that, it’s not like I did it with anyone else who asked me out….” even as she said it out loud her inner voice was screaming at her to shut up.

“How many people?” Osgood had moved back again and now sat looking stunned against the headboard. “Do I know any of them?”

“Os” Kate tried to repair the damage. “It hasn’t happened in a long time and it wouldn’t really be very professional of me to tell you, would it?”

“Did you go out with any of them?” Osgood had gone from shocked to annoyed. “It’s not like I’m going to build a ray gun and rampage through the Tower”

“No, I didn’t go out with anyone from work until you” Kate could feel the night slipping away from her. “You’re the only person I’ve been interested in for years, the only one worth the risk of having a relationship with someone from work”

Osgood looked a little placated. “I’m sorry” she tangled her fingers in Kate’s. “It’s none of my business who you did or didn’t go out with before we decided to have dinner”

“It was silly of me to make the comment” Kate tugged on their joined hands to pull the brunette under the quilt with her again. “I’m blaming you for killing my brain cells with a mind-blowing orgasm” she waited for the twitch of a smile before grinning. 

“Smooth Dr. Stewart, very smooth” Osgood finally relaxed again, sliding into Kate’s arms and kissing her quite thoroughly for several minutes.

Kate had finally managed to kiss down to Osgood’s breasts again, glancing up to make sure she wasn’t listing moons anymore. She grinned and edged further down the brunette’s body when she saw her eyes tightly closed but no muttering. She stopped when Osgood placed her hand on her shoulder. “OK?” she asked.

Osgood groaned as she heard Kate’s voice, she’d never heard it that husky before, even in her dreams. “Please” was all she could manage but her pull on Kate’s shoulder seemed to explain a little more of what she was asking for.

Kate moved back up to kiss her. “What do you want sweetheart?” she whispered against her lips. 

“Touch me” Osgood pleaded “Kiss me” she added, digging her short nails into Kate’s shoulder.

“As you wish” Kate breathed and kissed her while sliding her hand down the squirming body. “So sexy” escaped as she circled her finger around the brunette’s clit, feeling how wet she was and closing her eyes to limit the bombardment of stimuli.

“There” croaked Osgood, tightening her hold on Kate’s shoulder to make sure she didn’t stop or move. She didn’t have enough breath to say anything else or to continue kissing, just touching her lips to Kate’s cheek as she pulled her closer still.

“Os” Kate could feel the breath tickling across her cheek, over her shoulder and causing shivers down her back. She felt Osgood’s hand scratching down her arm before grabbing hold of her forearm and holding her tightly. “That’s it” she whispered, feeling the shuddering start under her fingers seconds before the brunette’s body began convulsing against her. “Fuck” she groaned out through gritted teeth, feeling herself close to the edge again but trying to concentrate on the other woman.

“Kate?” Osgood muttered a minute later, finally releasing her grip on the blonde’s arm and shoulder.

“Mmmmm” the blonde kissed the shoulder she lay against after she’d moved to lie beside Osgood. 

“I think we need to tell Geneva” Osgood whispered as she felt herself drift off to sleep. “I want more of this” she squeezed the snuggly woman who was already sinking into a deep sleep. 

**************************

The mobile phone vibrated on the bedside table, almost knocking the glasses beside it to the floor. Kate groaned and reached out blindly, only to remember she wasn’t alone when her arm hit soft flesh. Confused she shook her head and swiped her hair out of her eyes. “Os?” she squinted at the woman who was in bed beside her, surprised when she saw her awake and already talking on her phone.

“Of course, send the results to me and I’ll grab my laptop and see if I can make any sense of them” Osgood placed a finger against Kate’s lips to stop her from talking. “It might be an idea to contact Greyhound One as well” she suggested before grinning at the surprised looking woman beside her. “Oh OK, I’ll call you back in 10 then” she dropped her phone on the bed between them before reaching over and kissing Kate lightly. “You should answer your phone” she suggested, handing the vibrating mobile over before getting out of bed and grabbing her shirt from the floor. 

“Stewart” she growled into the phone, she’d much rather spend her time watching the brunette saunter out of her bedroom wearing only a shirt and a smile. Actually, she’d much rather follow the brunette and help her get rid of the shirt. “Sorry, say that again” she shook her head to clear the fantasies out and leave space for her usual role as a functioning adult. After several minutes of updates, she dropped her phone and groaned. Sighing deeply she noticed that it was only 4 am and swore under her breath before grabbing a baggy t-shirt. Wandering downstairs she found Osgood standing at the kitchen table staring at her laptop. “Coffee?” she asked and cleared her throat.

Osgood was leaning on the back of a chair, reading through the report she’d been sent by the team at the Tower. “Mmm?” she glanced up as Kate said her name, seeing her holding up a mug. “Oh, no thanks” she smiled. “Actually I don’t think you should either” she suggested and waited for Kate to stand next to her. “See, it’s just some anomalous readings from Finland” she pointed to her screen.

“How do you know it’s anomalous?” Kate leaned closer, she had left her glasses upstairs. “And why don’t I need coffee at 4 am?” she was grumpy as she turned to look at Osgood.

“Because of this here” Osgood pointed out a line of figures that fluctuated up and down for several seconds before settling down to static readings again. “And coffee will keep you awake” she explained.

“But I am already awake” Kate rested her head on Osgood’s shoulder, aware that she was complaining like a toddler but not really caring.

“Not for long” Osgood smiled and reached for her phone. “Now keep quiet, I’m not supposed to be here, remember?” she waited for Kate to nod before hitting speed dial on her mobile. “So you need to set up a deadband for the readings and only raise the alarm if they stray outside of the tolerance” Osgood finished explaining her suggestion. “No, you can tell Greyhound One to stand down” she saw Kate’s head lift suddenly from where it was resting on her shoulder, just managing to stifle a giggle. “Oh no, I’ll leave you to call her again at this time in the morning” Osgood laughed at the comment from the other end which helpfully covered her reaction to the sight of Kate rushing back upstairs to grab her mobile from the bedroom.

Kate sat on the edge of her bed, listening patiently as the duty officer gave her a status update. “Thank you, Captain, can you make sure that the teams know that Osgood has been called as well, I don’t want her disturbed in the morning unless they can’t help it” she raised an eyebrow as Osgood slowly started to unbutton her shirt. “And also let the Colonel know that I’ll be staying out of the office this weekend unless he needs me for anything specific” Kate reached behind her to find the bedside table by feel alone, dropping her phone onto the surface while keeping her eyes glued to the steadily revealed skin.

“You don’t want me disturbed in the morning?” Osgood dropped the shirt on top of her other clothes from earlier. “Does this mean we get a lazy morning in bed together?”

“Not so much lazy but definitely in bed” Kate opened her arms for Osgood to slide beside her. “Although the shower is also a possibility” she murmured before kissing down Osgood’s neck. “Anywhere without clothing really”

************************************************************************

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose, her glasses pushed up and holding messy hair “Yes Sir” she said, managing to keep the weariness and sigh out of her voice with a supreme effort backed up by years of experience. She listened in silence sitting back in her chair until it became clear that the General in Geneva was winding down. “Of course Sir” Kate agreed to whatever he wanted, she didn’t want this call to last a second longer than it had to. When she hung the phone up she stretched her neck and composed her thoughts before leaning forward and using the intercom to ask her assistant to find Osgood and ask her to come to Kate’s office at her convenience. Running her hands through her hair she tried to decide how angry her girlfriend was going to be, nodding when she settled on an 11 out of 10 as a good first guess. “I hope she thinks it’s worth it” she whispered and turned to paperwork to keep her mind occupied.

Osgood had casually asked Kate’s assistant who she’d just had a meeting with and could make a reasonable guess on the subject matter when she was told that the General’s call had lasted quite a bit longer than it usually did for their weekly catchup. Blowing out a breath she steeled herself for having to make very unpalatable decisions over the next hour or so, any of which would require her favourite scarf. She worked on some test results that would normally have been analysed and captured in ten minutes, managing to drag the task out to thirty but by then she had come up with so many disastrous scenarios for her personal life that she was deemed no longer safe to be working with chemicals. For a moment she prepared to argue and then saw the genuine concern in her colleagues' faces and acknowledged that her mind wasn’t really in the right place to be dealing with incendiary compounds. Making her apologies she headed to Kate’s office, fiddling with her scarf more than she’d done in many months.

“Ma’am you asked to see me?” Osgood gently knocked on the open door. She moved into the office when Kate waved her in and waited while Kate asked her assistant to hold her calls. “Would you like the door left open?” she asked, triple-guessing herself to behave as she would have had she not spent the weekend kissing her boss all over.

“Close it please?” Kate was also trying to figure out how to behave, deciding on brusque for anyone listening but tempering it with an apologetic shrug. 

“What did they say?” Osgood asked, nervously fussing with her scarf before catching herself and stuffing her hands into her lab coat pockets.

“It wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was going to be” Kate blew out a breath and pushed back from her desk, walking round to stand a step away from the worried looking brunette.

“Enough with the suspense, what did they say?” Osgood chewed her lip before realising what she’d said. “Ma’am?” she added uncertainly, completely blowing any chance she had at staying professional when she reached out and linked their hands. “I may be a little worried about the next 2 minutes, they’ve banned me from working on anything explosive” she admitted.

“Isn’t everything in your lab explosive?” Kate was momentarily distracted from the reason for the meeting.

“Mmmm” Osgood smiled ruefully. “So either Geneva said we could snog outside of work hours or I need to take the rest of the day as personal time”

“I explained to the General that I’d come to realise I had feelings for one of the scientific staff under my command in London” Kate started, tugging Osgood’s hand to persuade her to sit next to Kate on the visitor chairs. “He blustered a bit about me getting over it, at which point I may have suggested it was past that point already” Kate blushed a little at the awkwardness of that moment, she was sure that the General was even more embarrassed than she was. “He asked me who it was and I said I wasn’t going to tell him until he told me what he was planning on doing about it”

Osgood looked up in surprise. “How did he take that?”

“Let’s just say it’s probably just as well he can’t order me to do pushups for my insubordination” Kate sat back and cleared her throat. “Anyway, we finally agreed that the situation could only be resolved by whoever it was no longer being under my direct command” 

Osgood blinked at her and waited for the rest. She noticed Kate looking nervously around the room, not making eye contact until finally, Osgood’s patience was on empty. “And?” she saw Kate looking confused, obviously this was not the reaction she had expected. “I’m assuming you didn’t resign and I’m not being sacked so what was your cunning plan?”

Kate smiled and lifted Osgood’s hand to kiss the back of it. “He suggested that I assign the person of interest, his words not mine, to a different department and made sure they were supervised...” here Kate cleared her throat again and smirked. “Actually he suggested you’d be the ideal person to supervise as you were the most experienced scientist after me and Geneva seem to think you’re quite good at your job” she waited for that to sink in.

“Wait” Osgood squeezed Kate’s hand “So they said your hottie should report to me and that would fix the issue of you being their supervisor?” she nodded when Kate bit her lip. “How much did you enjoy sharing the next bit of information?” she asked dryly.

“I did manage to avoid laughing out loud when pointing out the fundamental flaw in his plan” Kate admitted then frowned. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear his reaction in your lab” 

“I had probably just blown something up” Osgood sighed then added “accidentally!” as an afterthought. 

“Similar reaction in both cases” Kate winced. “Anyway after about 5 minutes of some very unnecessary language he finally asked me what I thought I was playing at” she closed her eyes and remembered the several seconds of silence as she’d fought not to give any of the first five answers that sprang to mind. “And I told him if he thought this was a game or that I’d embarked on this on a whim then he’d have my resignation before the day was out”

“I bet that stopped him in his tracks,” Osgood said quietly.

“He did bluster a little but managed to assure me that it wouldn’t be necessary, I think he even apologised for suggesting I wasn’t taking it seriously” she looked confused, she had still been incensed at his accusation although she could now see that it had probably only been an unfortunate choice of words and not a suggestion that she was being frivolous.

“So you haven’t resigned?” Osgood needed the reassurance as Kate had zoned out.

“What, no, I’m still your boss” Kate grinned. 

“But?” Osgood knew they weren’t lucky enough to get off with one awkward phone call.

“Ah yes, that’s why I needed to see you” Kate leaned back in her chair.

“This is worse than waiting for you to kiss me!” Osgood was getting annoyed now. “Did I get fired?” she decided to move this along as Kate was obviously avoiding talking to her about the outcome.

“Of course not Os” Kate crossed her legs. “Do you honestly think they’d let you go anywhere?”

“I’d hope not but if they didn’t fire either one of us and I’m not going anywhere….” she trailed off as she figured out what Kate was not telling her. “Where are they sending you?”

“It’s only for a month or two while we figure out how to rewrite the HR procedures for this kind of thing” Kate explained.

“When, for how long and where?” Osgood stood up and started to pace, which was quite difficult considering how small Kate’s office was.

“Next week, two months max, Geneva” Kate folded her arms and watched the younger woman. “I’m sorry” 

“Not your fault unless you’re deliberately being irresistible when I’m around” Osgood smiled and returned to figuring out what her reaction was. “OK, I can live with this but only if we get to be together at the end of it” she stopped pacing and faced Kate.

“I think I can persuade HR that we’re a special case” Kate smirked.

“No, that’s not fair” Osgood frowned. “I mean we’re not a special case, the policies should allow this kind of relationship”

“They do Os” Kate stood and returned to her desk. “It’s not about us both being women, officially anyway” she shrugged. “It’s a chain of command issue, I just need to explain that scientists aren’t soldiers”

Osgood watched her and bit her lip. “I trust you,” she said and nodded to confirm what she’d said. “Do we need to be chaperoned between now and you leaving?” 

“I blooming hope not” Kate checked her watch. “I’m really sorry, I need to take a call in two minutes, can you have dinner with me tonight and we’ll figure the rest out?”

“Of course” Osgood opened the office door. “Ma’am,” she said as she stepped into the outer office 

************************************************************************************

Osgood checked the dish in the oven again, that was only the fifth time in ten minutes. She glanced at the clock and decided to open the wine to breathe, using her inhaler on the way to help her breathe as well. She jumped when the door entry system announced Kate’s arrival and hurried to let her into the building. “You look lovely,” she said shyly when the blonde appeared at her door after climbing the stairs. “Thanks” she took the bottle Kate offered her and closed the door as Kate stepped through it.

“You look nervous” Kate raised an eyebrow before stepping closer and softly kissing the brunette. “Everything OK?”

“Better now” Osgood sighed and leaned in for another kiss, hampered from hugging properly by the wine bottle she still held. “Dinner’s nearly ready” 

“Tip top” Kate grinned at her and followed her to the kitchen where a small table had been set. “Smells delicious” she leaned against the doorway to avoid crowding her host.

“Take a seat, you can pour the wine if you want?” Osgood felt more relaxed now that Kate was actually in her home. She indicated the opened bottle before carefully removing the dish from the oven and plating up their food. 

Kate turned down second helpings of dessert and pushed back from the table. “Let me do the dishes” she started to roll up her shirt sleeves.

“Nope” Osgood took her hand and led her into the living room. “Do you have any idea what that does to me?” she asked as she sat in her chair across from Kate.

“Me offering to wash your dishes?” Kate was mystified.

“I think the fact that you have no idea how sexy you are makes it even sexier, like a feedback loop creating chaos from small things” Osgood tucked her legs under herself and settled in for what was probably going to be a long discussion.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” Kate finished rolling her sleeves back down but left them unfastened, she had hopes of taking the shirt off at some point in the near future.

“I know you don’t” Osgood smiled. She had always known that Kate’s button-down shirts were a major part of her initial attraction to her. Add in the rolled up sleeves, that usually happened when her boss couldn’t resist the urge to get her hands dirty in the lab, and Osgood could watch Kate’s hands and forearms for hours on end. Suddenly she had a vivid memory from the weekend, of seeing Kate’s hand disappearing down her body and watching the muscles flex as she brought her to another orgasm.

Kate watched the blush spread up to Osgood’s ears. “Let’s sort out the Geneva Problem and then we can get to whatever just made you blush like that”

Osgood groaned and ran her hands over her face, removing her glasses. “Did you start a file called Geneva Problem?” she asked from behind her fingers.

“Maybe” Kate admitted.

“What are the rules?” Osgood asked, replacing her glasses and watching Kate as she looked embarrassed at being caught out. “I mean are we not allowed to see each other even on weekends, what happens if there’s an emergency that needs you back at the Tower?”

“Honestly I think it’s going to be business as usual except for the fact I’ll be away during the week” Kate shrugged. “This is uncharted waters, they know how to deal with this situation in the military but it’s not cropped up at a high enough level in the non-military personnel before now”

“So you go to work in Geneva and help them figure out that science leads here as well?” 

“I think so” Kate seemed unsure. “It’s almost more that they need assurances that any relationship won’t affect operational readiness, so if someone needed to be sent into the field that those decisions wouldn’t be compromised by personal feelings”

“They do seem to find a way to suck the romance out of it, don’t they?” Osgood smiled to let Kate know she was teasing. “We both know that you’d still make those calls”

“Probably” she admitted slowly. “Although I hope I don’t have to and that hasn’t changed now that we’re officially together” Kate watched Osgood nod in agreement. “Would you still make them?” Kate asked softly. “Would you have been able to leave me in the lab after the Silurian warrior paralysed me?”

“I…” Osgood started to protest then stopped and considered her answer. “I honestly don’t know” she admitted quietly. “I didn’t see you getting attacked so I don’t know what I’d have done even if we weren’t together” Kate waited, watching as the younger woman seemed lost in her own thoughts. “To be honest I’ve always assumed I’d be more likely to die in the field than you, even if you’re front and centre” Osgood saw the shock on Kate’s face. “I mean O2 did die first on Boat One, even if you almost did pretty soon after” 

“Os” Kate clenched her jaw, she hadn’t even considered the Missy incident when she’d posed the question. The more recent Silurian uprising had been filling her nightmares since the attack in the caves, which was a nice change if she was honest. “I couldn’t stop her….”

Osgood realised her mistake as soon as she saw the blood draining from Kate’s face. “I know you tried, I wasn’t meaning that you hadn’t” she stood and walked to the sofa, sitting down beside the distraught blonde. “Please, look at me” she held onto Kate’s hand with both of her own, waiting for the eyes to meet her’s once more. “You lead us but you don’t force us to follow you” she took her glasses off and leaned a little closer to Kate, keeping eye contact. “Nobody is under any illusions of a guaranteed survival to pension day after the induction lecture you give them, and even if they were still starry-eyed we always make a point of showing them the wall of honour”

“You do?” Kate was surprised, she didn’t know that the scientists highlighted the corridor under the Tower that showed the names of all of those who had died in the line of duty while working with UNIT. She had always assumed that the military teams held it in higher esteem as the majority of names on it were from their ranks.

“And I mention a few of the names of those who died while at their posts in the Tower, to highlight that a lab six stories beneath the centre of London isn’t a safe place either” Osgood swallowed, she had known several of the most recent names to appear and treated the memorial with the utmost respect. “So you see, all of the scientists know that they are in a certain amount of danger just by doing the vital work they do”

Kate blew out a breath and used her free hand to wipe her eyes “How did we get here again?”

“You worry that you’ve ordered people to their deaths” Osgood swallowed. “That you’ll send me on a mission and it’ll be your fault if I don’t make it back”

“That is the point of being in charge” Kate sniffed.

“Not really” Osgood shuffled around so that her back rested against the arm of the sofa. “Since you’ve been in charge you’ve made sure that the best-qualified people are hired, making it more likely that we’ll all survive anything the Universe can throw at us” she gently caressed the back of Kate’s hand, sliding her fingers across her knuckles before looking back up with a smile. “And when the Brigadier has to come out to play and start ordering people around then we trust that side of you as well” she blushed a little.

Kate raised her eyebrow and risked the start of a smile. “Please tell me you don’t want me to wear that ruddy uniform?”

“No” Osgood smirked. “You don’t need to wear it to be the Brigadier” she licked her lips. “It’s more a swagger and state of mind thing” she admitted.

“You make me sound like a cowboy!” Kate laughed and it felt good to lighten the moment further. “So I tell Geneva that we’re still perfectly OK with running towards the scary monsters?”

“I’m not so keen on the actual running, but that’s the principle anyway” Osgood lifted Kate’s hand to kiss the back of it. “How long will it take you to convince them and rewrite the HR policies?”

“I can rewrite the policies in a week” Kate looked apologetic. “But it will probably take me a month to convince them”

“Or we could just retire and live on a desert island somewhere” Osgood sighed and leaned her head against the back of the sofa.

“A desert island with a high-speed internet connection and no actual flowers?” Kate grinned properly.

“Oh shut up” Osgood bunched the front of Kate’s shirt in her hand, using it to pull her into a slow, deep kiss.

An hour later they lay in Osgood’s bed, clothes strewn across the sofa in the other room and some underwear on the floor between there and the bedroom. Kate held Osgood against her left shoulder, listening to the younger woman’s breathing slow down little by little. “OK?” she kissed the top of Osgood’s head and rubbed her right hand up and down Osgood’s left arm.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood grinned and then yelped as Kate pinched her waist. “Sorry” she finally persuaded Kate that no further punishment was required. “I...em…..” she curled her left arm around Kate’s waist, pulling them closer together, leaning her head back to gently kiss her. “Do you need to leave?”

Kate pulled back and moved some hair from in front of the brunette's eyes. “I’ll try to get it over and done with as quickly as I can sweetheart” She saw the confusion in Osgood’s eyes. “What?”

“Oh I didn’t mean leave, leave” Osgood grinned and leaned up to drop a kiss on Kate’s nose. “I meant can you stay tonight?”

“Ah” Kate blushed and turned to see the time on the alarm clock. “I have a few more hours before I need to head home”

“Don’t you keep spare clothes at the Tower?” the brunette kissed Kate’s shoulder, moving slowly towards her chest. 

“Well yes” Kate ran her hands through Osgood’s hair. “But I do have a meeting with the Minister in the morning”

“So we’ll set the alarm a little earlier” the younger woman looked up just before she reached a nipple that looked pleased to see her head in its direction. “Unless you do really need to go home?”

Kate swallowed and weighed up the benefits of wearing a slightly wrinkled suit to work in the morning. “I think I really need to stay here” she blushed again at just how much she really did need to stay underneath this woman.

Twenty minutes later Osgood was sprawled across the bed “You’re trying to kill me” she puffed out.

Kate laughed and tried to roll over to cuddle her but found she couldn’t move her legs or arms yet. “Says the woman who pounced on me” 

It took several minutes before they could shuffle back to the top of the bed, rescuing pillows from the floor until they ended up lying together. “We can take separate taxis in the morning” Osgood yawned around the end of her suggestion.

“Why?” Kate mumbled, she was enjoying the warmth of snuggling under the quilt with the young woman.

“You’d have made a rubbish spy” Os set an alarm on her mobile and returned it to the bedside table, switching off the light before settling in Kate’s arms again. “We need this to be a secret until Geneva let you snog me for real”

“Vikram won’t tell anyone” Kate muttered and squeezed the squirming bundle in her arms. “Os, go to sleep”


	4. London & Geneva

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate finally lets the tiger out to play a little here and if there are any HR people reading this I am sorry that you get a rough deal, I blame it entirely on the numpties I've come across in the business I work for but they may be the exception that proves the rule of competency :)

“I can’t believe you let me sleep through both alarms” Osgood muttered as Kate settled next to her in the back of the taxi.

“You looked really peaceful” Kate protested. 

“I was comatose because someone……” Osgood stopped before explaining exactly what ‘someone’ had done to put her in a deep sleep.

Kate smiled softly, clasping her girlfriend’s hand and squeezing gently until Osgood relented and squeezed her hand in reply and sighed dramatically. “We’ll get there on time, I’m sorry”

“No, I’m sorry” Osgood sighed again. “I think I’m more spooked about this than you are” she admitted. “Last night was fun” she whispered before turning to look out of her window at the pedestrians who bustled to get to work. “I can’t believe that you told the colonel about us though” she leaned her forehead against the window, her breath misting the glass as she sighed again.

“It wouldn’t have been fair to have him find out from Geneva,” Kate said quietly. “And he is a friend” she frowned at their clasped hands. “I didn’t think you’d mind but I should have checked with you first, I’m sorry” She’d been surprised when Osgood had been annoyed when she remembered the last thing she’d said as they were falling asleep the previous night.

“This is me being weird again, isn’t it?” Osgood had been trying to figure out what it was about the situation that bothered her. She turned back towards Kate and squeezed her hand again. “I think it’s….” she paused to order the words in her head. “I’ve never really been part of a couple before, never really thought about what it would be like and certainly not at work”

Kate’s eyes searched the young woman’s face and she opened and closed her mouth several times before shaking her head. “You want to keep it professional when we’re at work, I understand”

“I don’t know what I want” Osgood frowned. “Well except last night, I’d like more of that” she sighed. “Can you give me a couple of days to get used to us and I’ll figure out how to deal with it?”

“Whatever you need,” Kate said softly, lifting their joined hands to kiss Osgood’s fingers. She turned to look out her window, she didn’t really want to see Osgood looking so worried about them. The taxi dropped Kate off at the main entrance and Osgood at the cafe around the corner. “Can you let the Minister know that I’m running about 10 minutes late?” she told her assistant before heading for the changing room with her change of clothes.

Osgood watched Kate’s car leave the courtyard as she sipped her coffee. Chewing her bottom lip she shook her head and walked to her lab, concentrating on her own thoughts to the point where she ignored at least three colleagues saying good morning to her.

*******************************************

Kate threw her jacket onto one of the visitor chairs in her office and paced for several seconds. “Insufferable, pompous……..” she ran out of anything she could say out loud without breaking her ‘no swearing in the office’ rule. She stretched her arms up and heard the satisfying pop of her neck and back realigning. “Right, enough of that” she nodded to herself and moved to her own chair, sitting down and rearranging the piles of paper on her desk before checking her emails. She scanned down the list until one caught her eye. “What is she up to?” she muttered as she opened Osgood’s email with the subject line of ‘important work stuff’. The last of the tension she’d been carrying since the ministerial meeting started to drain away as she read and she was smiling by the time she managed to compose a suitably work-related response. “Team building” she shook her head and started on the piles of paper.

Osgood finished her discussion with one of the scientists who had argued with them during the Finland incident. “Thanks, let’s hope we can move on from here and be better equipped to handle the next one” Osgood kept eye contact, as much as she wanted to look away and study the spider’s web in the corner of the room.

“Yes ma’am” the scientist seemed nervous but relieved as well. “Can you apologise to Ms. Stewart on my behalf please?” he studied the top of the desk. 

“You can talk to her, you know?” Osgood managed not to smile. “She is a scientist just like us and enjoys discussions on projects you’re working on”

“Well, I…...she is very busy” he extemporised, the thought of actually speaking to the boss making him even more nervous.

“OK, next time she’s in the lab we can talk to her together, will that help?” Osgood really didn’t want to have to relay messages between her small team and Kate just because they were scared of her. She finished checking on some lab tests and finally sat back down at her desk, munching on the sandwich she’d grabbed for lunch and opening her emails. She’d almost forgotten that she’d sent Kate an email this morning until she saw the reply and stopped chewing for several seconds. Opening the reply she read it through twice before grinning and finishing her lunch, deciding that a walk to the coffee machine near Kate’s office wasn’t too frivolous after her morning.

Kate scowled at her monitor, the procedures that were in place for the military to deal with a situation like her’s were terse and not terribly helpful. Opening up another file she started to update each paragraph with non-military jargon and was deep in thought when she heard a cough at her door. “Hey, you” she smiled and blinked a few times, taking her glasses off and sitting back in her chair. “Everything OK?” she checked as Osgood moved into her office and closed the door behind her.

“Yes, I thought you might like a snack” Osgood dumped several bars of chocolate out of her lab coat pockets onto the desk in front of a slightly bewildered blonde. “The vending machines don’t stock flowers or ‘I’m sorry for being an idiot’ bottles of wine” she shrugged in explanation.

“So you decided to push me towards diabetes as an apology?” Kate smiled to let her know she was teasing. “You don’t need to apologise anyway, we’re both figuring this out as we go along and sometimes one of us will get it a bit wrong” despite her teasing she reached for a Kit Kat. “But I do love a Kit Kat” she broke the bar into its two halves and offered one to Osgood.

“Thanks” Osgood nibbled on the edge of the chocolate and relaxed a little. “Did you want to have dinner again tonight?” she asked shyly.

“I have laundry I need to sort out before I leave at the end of the week” Kate watched the crestfallen look slide onto the younger woman’s face. “If it’s not too dull you could come round and watch TV while I’m sorting that out and then we could have takeout?” she saw the smile again and knew that every time her girlfriend’s eyes lit up like that she received another jolt to her heart, like a tiny pacemaker keeping her on the right path. “You could stay over if you wanted?” Kate tried to be blase about the offer, she didn’t want to smother Osgood.

“Only if you promise not to let me sleep through two alarms again” Osgood tried to look stern.

“Well you clearly needed your sleep so I was going to suggest an early night but if you’d rather not……..” Kate was much better with her poker face.

Osgood looked at Kate for several seconds, head cocked slightly to one side and concentrating on whatever she was seeing. Kate didn’t shift under her gaze, giving her a chance to figure out what was going through her mind. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you head to Geneva” she started softly. “I’m very much afraid that I’ll miss you terribly so I’ll happily do your laundry, dishes, decorating or gardening with you just to be in your company”

Kate quelled her initial reaction to make a joke and leaned forward on her desk, clasping her hands together to stop herself from reaching out to touch the young woman. “I want all of that too, we seem to be skipping the romantic walks along the river and going straight to domestic chores” she swallowed. “If this is moving too fast then we can slow it down?”

“The last time I was down by the river there was a crash-landed crocodilian alien trying to chew his way through the rescue boat so I think a quiet night in sounds absolutely perfect” Osgood leaned across and rested her hand on top of Kate’s. “We’ve known each other for a few years and been through more than most people see in ten lifetimes, we’re due a little downtime and snuggling on a sofa”

“Agreed” Kate cleared her throat. “Did you want to collect a change of clothes for the morning and meet me at my place around 7?”

“Yes ma’am” Osgood smirked and stood to leave the office. “Do you want me to collect dinner on my way over?”

“Let’s see what we’re both in the mood for when you get to my place” Kate suggested. “I’m putting the rest of these in the emergency snack drawer” she made a show of sweeping the remaining chocolate bars into her desk drawer. “Thanks for the surprise visit though, I started work on the procedures and needed a beautiful distraction”

“You are a sweet talker Dr. Stewart and I seem to be completely OK with that” Osgood smiled and nodded before heading back to her office for the rest of the day.

“Do you think it’s worrying that we’ve not had many late night callouts recently?” Kate asked as she slouched down next to Osgood on her sofa after clearing away the remains of their take away.

“If your phone goes off in the next ten minutes you know you’ve brought it on yourself!” Osgood shook her head and checked her pocket for her own phone. “We’ve had lulls like this before, just less fun distractions to get through them” she grinned as she ran her hand up the side of Kate’s thigh.

“You’re much more than a fun distraction sweetheart” Kate captured the hand and squeezed it between her own. “Geneva trips are usually a bit of a chore but I think I’ll be much grumpier than usual this time around”

“Good” Osgood waited for the surprised look she was expecting. “I hope that means they’ll be inclined to sort this out quickly so that they can send you back to your long-suffering staff in London” she grinned. 

Kate raised one eyebrow and sat back a little. “Long-suffering?” she crossed her arms and tried to look grumpy but she knew it was a lost cause, she was completely enchanted by this woman and had no idea how she’d kept that to herself for so long.

“Long-suffering and adoring” Osgood smiled, she knew Kate wasn’t really angry. “Although I think I adore you more than anyone else”

“I blooming well hope so” the blonde muttered before leaning in for a kiss.

Osgood returned the kiss with enthusiasm, a tiny part of her brain trying to quantify which part of Kate was the softest and unable to decide between her lips or the nape of her neck where she was currently stroking under her hair. “Upstairs?” she pulled back.

Kate looked a little dazed before shaking her head and moving around the room to switch off lights. “I did promise you an early night” she held her hand out to the brunette.

“I love your voice” Osgood stood up and kissed her again. “Let’s go” she whispered as they parted, both of them breathing heavily.

“Did you set your alarm?” Kate smiled as she settled under the duvet, watching Osgood finish brushing her teeth.

“Yesh” she managed around her toothbrush, rinsing before drying her hands and sliding into bed. “Now where were we?” she swept her hair over her shoulder and leaned over to resume kissing the blonde.

Kate rolled onto her side, pulling the brunette closer until they were sliding against each other. “Os?” she groaned, not sure how this could feel better every time. “Can I?” she leaned back a little to ask the question and completely lost her train of thought as she saw the younger woman’s blissful look and eyes that opened slowly and stared at her.

“Yes” Osgood sighed, pretty sure that was the answer irrespective of the question.

Kate grinned and shook her head slowly “I love you” she whispered.

Osgood blinked twice and knew she’d taken too long to answer when she felt the blonde pull away from her. “You can’t kiss me like that and say stuff,” she said quietly, leaning in for another kiss.

“I thought it was the perfect time to say it after we’d kissed like that?” Kate said slowly, unsure whether she’d broken what was beginning between them. “You don’t have to…”

“Of course I want to” Osgood leaned in again, keeping the kisses light and making sure they stayed in contact. “I’ve loved you for so long, even before we got here” she trailed her left hand down Kate’s side, resting on her hip and holding her close. “I should have said it ages ago but I didn’t want to freak you out” she reached forward for a quick kiss. “I love you Kate” she smiled and saw the relief wash over the blonde.

“Perfect” Kate breathed out and rolled forwards, pushing Osgood onto her back. “You are perfect” she whispered in her ear before nibbling her earlobe and kissing down her neck.

Osgood sighed as Kate’s breath tickled her neck, stretching back and pushing her chest closer to the searching lips. “Please” she gasped as long fingers slid down her body, tickling around her navel.

Kate took a deep breath, trying to slow down her own heart rate so that she could concentrate on the squirming woman under her. “I know” she husked before sucking the nipple closest to her mouth as hard as she could. The squawk caused her to grin and she quickly licked the nipple in apology. 

“Please” Osgood whispered again and dragged the hand from her abdomen down to where she wanted it. She was aware of the laugh that accompanied her not too smooth directions but ignored it in favour of remembering to breathe through the electric shocks moving from her breasts to her clit. “Fuck” she managed a groan this time as the slender fingers circled her clit, dipping down to bring moisture back up for another circuit.

She couldn’t hear much more than her heart racing and Osgood’s heaving breaths. Moving back, Kate watched the body under hers squirm and twitch in time with the speed of her fingers. Leaning forward she kissed the young woman, letting her still gasp and groan but insisting on keeping their lips as close as she could. “Come for me” she growled and felt the jerk as hips lifted off the mattress to crash against her hand. She closed her eyes to concentrate on placing her fingers in exactly the spot they were needed, her lips resting just beside the open mouth that was now producing the most orgasm-inducing noises she had ever heard.

“I’m going to die” was running through Osgood’s head as she tried to both suck extra oxygen into her lungs and hold her breath at the same time. “Kate!” she finally screamed as the orgasm stampeded over her body. Clamping her thighs around Kate’s hand she rolled onto her side and buried her head in the space between Kate’s shoulder and neck. “Fuck” she ground out as the last spasm tightened and then relaxed every muscle in her body.

“I’ve got you” Kate couldn’t get her hand free yet but the other one held Osgood’s head against her shoulder. She could feel the tickle of puffed out breaths against her neck and the final squeeze of the thighs around her wrist before they released her. She slid the freed hand round to rub circles on Osgood’s lower back, mirroring the motions she’d used seconds before.

Osgood tried to collect the scattered thoughts into a cohesive sentence. “Love you” she mumbled and was quite proud she’d managed that much. Hearing Kate chuckle she summoned the energy to move her head and start to nibble along the blonde’s neck. Finally getting enough neurons firing for motor control she swept her thumb across breasts that were tinted with a blush and moaned into the ear she was now kissing towards. 

“Os” Kate managed and tightened her grip on the brunette’s lower back. “Love you too” she sighed and stretched her back to give the wandering hand some more space to wander. She caught her breath when the fingers slid either side of her clit before getting two breaths in quick succession as two fingers slid inside her, gently separating to fill her. “Yes” was the only sound that made sense as it pushed through gritted teeth. She couldn’t hold on any longer, her arms dropping from the warm body and gripping onto the duvet that had somehow ended up underneath her. Holding Osgood in her arms while she came was enough to put her on edge and she should have been embarrassed at how quickly she usually came but just couldn’t find it in her to be upset at amazing orgasms.

Osgood licked the collarbone that was now under her mouth and continued with the slow strokes alongside Kate’s clit interspersed with fingers dipping inside her, moving a little deeper each time. She groaned as their breasts moved against each other, the exquisite points of lightning flashing down her body. She increased the speed of her fingers again and could feel the walls thickening and tightening around them, pushing in as far as she could and curling them at what she hoped was the right place. 

“Fuck” Kate felt every muscle in her body stop moving for a second before everything suddenly seemed to be exploding around her. Aware of her hips grinding up against the heel of Osgood’s hand she felt the weight of the brunette hold her down. What felt like minutes later she could see and hear again and felt soft kisses on her shoulder. “Hey” she tried and had to swallow to actually make herself heard and understood.

“Hi” Osgood lifted her head and smiled. “You are beautiful when you come” she whispered and slowly kissed the disagreement from the blonde’s lips. “And I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to…” she looked sheepishly at Kate and eventually rolled off of her and let her fingers run across a small red mark on the collarbone.

“You gave me a love bite?” Kate grinned and tried to see the mark for herself but it was too close. “I haven’t had one of them for years!”

“I didn’t mean to, but you sound so sexy when you come and it just sort of happened” Osgood gently rubbed the spot, bending to kiss it better. 

************

Osgood continued reading the report in front of her and reached for her desk phone. “Osgood,” she said, highlighting some text before turning her attention to the caller. “Hello, you” she smiled softly, glancing round to see if anyone was nearby to overhear them. “How was the flight?”

Kate nodded to the person handing her a mug of coffee. “Usual, although I did cut it a bit fine to check in” she grinned as she imagined the blush staining Osgood’s neck and face. “There was some em…..excitement when I got here” she crossed her legs and sat further back in the folding chair.

Osgood frowned a little, she wasn’t sure what that tone of voice meant. “What happened?” she asked and then said, “Give me one-second ma’am” as she put her hand over the receiver and listened to one of her colleagues. Kate pinched the bridge of her nose, she had a pretty good idea what Osgood was being told and was annoyed at not being able to share the news herself. She heard the inhaler being used and braced herself for the next few minutes of uncomfortable conversation. “Decontamination?” Osgood asked, looking over the piece of paper with an analysis of the compound that had been accidentally released in the Geneva office that morning. 

“Should have caught a later flight” Kate sighed. “The showers were cold as well” she grumped, it had already been a ridiculously long day and it was only mid-morning.

“You OK?” Osgood put the paper down and took her glasses off, rubbing her eyes and trying to quieten the anxiety. “It’s not terribly toxic, just uncomfortable if it comes in contact with skin”

“Yes, I was made aware of that when they almost whisked me to the hospital earlier” Kate was using the dry tone usually only reserved for especially obstinate politicians. “It was nothing, but when I put the scrubs on the doctor saw a mark on my shoulder that he was worried was a reaction”

“Any other symptoms?” Osgood sat up and hurriedly checked their database for any side effects that she may not have remembered.

“Os,” Kate said quietly, sipping her coffee. “The mark on my shoulder was from the weekend” she counted to five before hearing the squeak from the other end of the phone. “If anyone asks I had an argument with a sucker while gardening on Saturday” she laughed at the groan and almost felt guilty about teasing Osgood about the lovebite again. 

Osgood gently banged the phone receiver against her forehead before biting her lip. “Are you stuck in the decontamination zone?” she asked, trying to move away from the gentle teasing.

“Yes, should be cleared in half an hour or so and I’ll go to the hotel and change out of these ridiculous scrubs” she rubbed the thin fabric between her finger and thumb. Osgood had lost the power of speech as a visual of Kate in laboratory scrubs popped into her mind. “I’ll probably grab a late lunch and work from there for the rest of the day” Kate continued, oblivious to the silence.

“Call me when you get there” Osgood coughed to clear some of the huskiness from her voice. “I’ll get our team to double check the analysis”

“Thank you Osgood” Kate became businesslike and had obviously been joined by someone. “Keep me informed” she signed off and gave her attention to the scientist who nervously explained what was going to happen now that they had contained the leak. “It’s alright” she assured him when he finished showing her the results of the latest tests, he still looked petrified. “I won’t hold a grudge that you tried to poison me on our first meeting” she waited for a second to see if he would faint before touching his arm. “If your boss survives then you’re winning” she winked at him and wandered off to find the General and explain her plans for the rest of the day.

Osgood stretched out on her sofa, taking her glasses off as she laughed. “You did not!” she giggled.

“I couldn’t resist” Kate laughed. “He looked so terrified” she fluffed the pillows on the bed behind her. “I think he recovered though, he insisted I borrow a lab coat before I left the office”

“You should bring them back with you” Osgood smiled, she’d been imagining her girlfriend in scrubs all afternoon.

“Os they are exactly the same as the scrubs and lab coats we have at the Tower” Kate smirked. “I thought you weren’t into uniforms?” she asked, recognising the tone that had crept into the brunette’s voice.

“I’m not” the younger woman shifted to a more comfortable position. “Well not with anyone else” she grinned. “You seem to be different from everyone else in this as well”

“Uh huh” Kate stretched her back. “So I agreed that there would be a draft schedule for the procedure rewrites by the end of this week” 

“Good news, you’ll be busy” Os let her change the subject.

“I’m planning on making everyone work 12 hour days until they agree to what I want” Kate sounded sincere. She was still annoyed at her enforced absence from London. “I want to be back at the Tower, back with you,” she said quietly.

“I want you here as well but it won’t be long and we can have dinner on Saturday if you want?” Osgood crossed her fingers.

“I could cook for you if you like?” Kate sounded a little unsure but hoped that Osgood was amenable. “Or we could go out if you’d rather?”

“Can you cook?” Osgood asked practically while clenching her fist and grinning like an idiot. 

“Even I can manage a pot noodle I’ll have you know” Kate smiled at the giggle she received. “You can decide later in the week, have you got yourself something for dinner tonight?” she asked, checking her watch and frowning slightly at the time. 

Osgood checked her watch and calculated the time in the hotel. “I’ve got some leftovers from the other day that’ll be fine” she assured. “Don’t you have that conference call in five minutes?”

Kate sighed and sat the side of the bed, looking forlornly at the comfortable pillows she’d been propped against. “I do” she agreed. “I don’t know how long this will take, I can text you when we’re done and if you’re already asleep we can talk in the morning”

“Kate you’re two hours ahead of me, if I’m asleep when you’re still on a call then your call is running too long” Osgood firmly pointed out. “I know you want to get this over and done with but you need to take care of yourself and eat and sleep properly”

Kate was surprised at the protective instincts coming to the surface again, her friend had been making pointed remarks about the missed meals and late nights at home as well. “I’m fine Os, I had a late lunch and an early dinner and there is the usual ginormous fruit bowl in the room” she tried to reassure her. “I promise to get to bed as early as I can”

“Make sure you do, I don’t mind you making everyone else work long hours but I want to see an awake and healthy girlfriend this weekend” Osgood took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I know you’re perfectly capable and I’m teaching you to suck eggs but...I….well I suppose I have a vested interest in keeping you perky”

“I don’t mind,” Kate said softly “It’s been a while since anyone worried about me and it’s nice” she checked her watch again. “I’m sorry love, I need to go and get signed in for the call, we’ll talk later”

“OK, call me when you’re done and we can go to bed together” Osgood grinned and hung up, she was getting very used to being ridiculously flirty.

***********************************************

Kate sat her glasses down beside her pad and pen and waited for the others around the meeting table to notice she was no longer paying attention. It had been a long week and she knew she was about to properly lose her temper, she was only surprised it had taken her till Friday to do it considering how the week had started. 

The head of HR finally stopped sniping at the military attache and turned to the silent woman at the opposite side of the roundtable. “Dr. Stewart, are we boring you?” he asked and only realised his error when the blonde head came back up and met his gaze.

“You have two hours left this week to agree on the schedule I’ve proposed for the rest of the month,” Kate said very quietly. “I had two children who would have been put in the corner for bickering and arguing the way you people have in the last hour and I am now at the point where I may just put you on a timeout to see if it works here as well” she knew her tone was the one usually reserved for invading aliens but she had a headache starting. “If you ever use that tone with me again I’ll make you forget the last few years with Unit and how to eat with a knife and fork” she kept her gaze on his face but was fairly sure that everyone else in the room was straightening up in their chairs as well. “I am the head of scientific research and I do not answer to you, we’re sitting in this room right now because you didn’t do your job properly and I now need to fix your mess so I expect you all to stop behaving like 5-year-olds and get this done” she slipped her glasses into her jacket pocket and stood. “We’re taking a ten-minute coffee break and then we’re all back in this room to work” she swept the room to make sure everyone was nodding and was pleased to notice several other people who appeared to be relieved that she was taking charge. “Are there any questions?” she asked and was surprised when the young military attache raised his hand, she really had come across as a strict school teacher she thought but didn’t let herself smile, nodding at him to ask.

“Why only two hours?” he asked slightly nervously, he’d faced down Autons and Cybermen but this woman was actually proper scary when she put her mind to it. “You said we only had two hours left but it’s not even lunchtime yet”

“Because I’ve decided I’m getting the mid-afternoon flight home, I’ve had more than enough of Swiss hospitality this week and we’ll start on the first procedural rewrite on Monday morning” she headed out of the room, not bothering to check whether anyone else in the room agreed with her.

The attache looked around the table. “We get this sewed up in an hour or we’ll piss her off even more and none of us want that, right?” he looked around the table and saw a few enthusiastic nods before making eye contact with the slightly green looking HR director. “Right?” he knew he wasn’t the only one holding his breath until the slight nod came from the other man. “OK, coffee and then let’s get this done” he stood and walked towards the door, missing that Kate had been standing outside it listening to their conversation with a smile on her face.

***************************************

“Hi” Kate sat on the plane, excited to be heading back earlier than she’d planned. “Have you got a minute to talk?” she asked and waited for Osgood to understand that this wasn’t a business call.

Osgood nodded at her colleagues and walked towards the coffee area, glancing around to make sure she was alone “Did you kill someone, do I need to come and bail you out?” she smiled at a passing soldier and poured herself a coffee from the pot.

“Not yet” Kate grinned and nodded as the steward handed her a glass of wine. “Listen can you finish up a bit early tonight?” 

“I suppose so, did you want to call me when I’m at home?” she blushed a little, their late night calls had become increasingly uninhibited as the week had gone on.

“Well I was rather hoping you’d want to meet me at Heathrow in a couple of hours” Kate sipped the wine slowly. 

“Did they deport you?” Osgood grinned as she headed for her desk to make sure she hadn’t forgotten any meetings for that afternoon.

“We all agreed it was better that I headed home a little earlier” the blonde woman dropped her head back onto the rest and rolled it to look out of the window at the ground crew bustling about. “I should land about 4.30 if that’s OK?”

“I’ll be there” Osgood started tidying papers. Ninety minutes later she was sitting on the express train and checking emails on her phone. She stared out of the window as the city rolled by, occasionally catching a reflection of herself grinning as they swept through tunnels. Twenty minutes later she stood watching the arrivals board for the Geneva flight and was relieved to see it was on time, which meant she was thirty minutes early. She found a seat in the nearest Starbucks and watched the clock tick down.

Kate stepped off the plane and walked swiftly up the airbridge, they had landed on time and with any luck, she was only minutes away from Osgood being in her arms. Her heart fell when she rounded the corner to immigration and saw the long queues that meant she had at least fifteen minutes of standing in a shuffling line of bored and irritated people. Looking around she spotted a member of staff and strode towards them. “I need to clear immigration quickly,” she said with confidence and showed her credentials to the slightly startled employee. They looked at the insignia and titles on the pass and swallowed nervously before nodding and leading Kate to the front of one of the queues. “Thank you,” Kate said as she put the leather wallet back in her coat pocket and walked towards the now free desk. As she walked towards baggage reclaim moments later she felt guilty about queue jumping and then realised that her emergency situation would be a little less likely to be believed when she snogged Osgood senseless as soon as she got to her. Sighing she phoned the young woman, “Hi, just cleared immigration and I should have my bag fairly soon” she checked which baggage reclaim belt her bags would arrive at. “I had to flash my badge to get through so we should probably save the proper welcome till we’re in the car”

“Car?” Osgood shook her head at Kate’s nervousness. “I came on the train, I thought we’d….”

“I booked a hire car” Kate explained and stood at the optimum point on the belt to get her bag quickly. “I planned a surprise, I hope you like it” she sounded even more nervous now.

“You coming home early is all the surprise I needed” she smiled. “I’ll meet you at the car hire desks and you can explain” she headed off to find the nearest desks.

******************************

“Really?” Osgood looked more surprised than she had for the last hour, which was in itself a surprise. “I had no idea!” 

“Fish and chips only taste this good if you’re beside the sea” Kate insisted, handing over a paper-wrapped package and stuffing various packets of condiments in her coat pocket. “This way” she motioned and walked towards the seafront with her own dinner held in her hands.

“Is there scientific evidence of this taste test?” Osgood asked seriously.

“There will be once we have the time to carry out a few blind trials” Kate suggested solemnly. “There’s a bench over there” she pointed and they both headed towards the bench overlooking the pebbly beach and rolling waves.

“It’s years since I’ve been in Brighton” Osgood settled on the bench and carefully opened her wrapping. 

Kate offered her salt, pepper and vinegar packets and they spent some time carefully opening and distributing them evenly over the fish and chips cradled in the wrapping. “I was here for one of the party conferences last year, had to update the PM on something or other” she accepted back the empty packets and dumped them in the rubbish bin just beside the bench. 

“Not a romantic al fresco dinner that time?” Osgood teased and then slapped Kate’s back as she coughed up the water she’d almost inhaled. “Sorry” she waited for her to stop coughing before starting to eat her dinner.

“Hardly” Kate rasped and slouched down a little, stretching her legs out in front of her. “It's nice to get out of the office sometimes and let the breeze blow away some of the cobwebs”

“I love you,” Osgood said and smiled as she got a surprised look. “I’ve missed you” she admitted and blushed a little.

“Finish your romantic dinner and then we can head back to London” Kate nudged her shoulder against Osgood’s. “I’d rather like to try what you were suggesting on the phone last night”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone familiar with Heathrow, the M25 and M23 and Brighton. I know it would be complete insanity to hire a car from the airport at 5 on a Friday night and expect to get anywhere near the coast before a reasonable hour but I wanted to get them on that beach with the wind blowing in their hair. I have used the pebbles and sea breeze to relax me after a few work days at our HQ and it does work!


	5. Geneva & Aberdeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More city hopping and a hint of more aliens.
> 
> Another chance to add to my ever growing list of things I don't know very much about - helicopters and submarines :)

Three weeks after their impromptu seaside picnic Osgood was waiting at Heathrow arrivals again but under very different circumstances. “It doesn’t take long once they’re off the plane” she muttered, glancing at her phone again.

“We should have met her airside and extracted her from there” Josh complained, annoyed at having to change into civvies in order to meet Kate in the public areas of the airport. 

“People are freaking out enough about security at airports without having armed soldiers running around” Osgood whispered and quickly typed a reply to her team back at the Tower. “It won’t be long now,” she said just as her phone started ringing. “Ma’am,” she said and listened to Kate’s instructions. “Yes ma’am, Captain Carter is with me, we’ll go straight to the site when you clear immigration”

Kate blew out a breath as she closed the call down and spotted a familiar employee trying to herd the rowdy people just off a flight delayed for several hours. “I’m so sorry” she stood in front of the woman. “I need to clear this mess urgently again” she showed her credentials and waited for the harassed employee to nod and guide her around what looked suspiciously like a rugby team on tour. 

“I’d ask you to take me with you but I’m not sure I want to know” the woman mumbled as she avoided another escape attempt and pointed the drunk back towards the rest of his party.

“Let me help” Kate didn’t really have the time but she still felt guilty about pulling rank the first time she’d met Osgood. “You” she pointed at an older man at the front of the rowdy boys. “Get this lot in order or I’ll have them all detained and cavity searched” she flashed her badge again, quickly enough that the man wouldn’t know which service she was with but he’d seen enough to know she meant business. He immediately shouted at a few of the sober members of the team and the noise and testosterone levels dropped. 

“Thanks for that, if there’s anything else I can help you with let me know” the employee looked marginally less stressed as Kate nodded at her and strode past the immigration station, scanning her credentials quickly and avoiding nosy questions.

“Josh” she nodded at him as they fell into step beside her and headed at speed for the main entrance. “Osgood, what do we have?”

Osgood showed her the tablet she’d primed with the relevant information on the recent find under the North Sea “Sonar readings picked up something strange last night and they notified us at 7 am”

Josh had stopped beside a large black car with tinted windows and swept his eyes around the area before opening the door “Ma’am” he waited for Kate and Osgood to get into the back seat and then jumped in the front and told the driver to floor it.

Osgood held onto the handle above her door as the driver switched flashing lights and sirens on to clear an erratic path through the cars haphazardly moving through arrivals and drop-offs. Once they were on the motorway and heading north she settled a little and turned to find Kate engrossed in the details she was scanning through. She knew she’d be ready when Kate finally started asking questions but there would always be that “first day at work” flutter in her stomach, in case she didn’t have an answer, that had always been there and was uniquely UNIT.

Kate looked up to see where they were heading. “We’re not driving all the way there?” she checked, she may as well have flown to Aberdeen and avoided an eight-hour drive, even at high speed and with outriders. 

“No ma’am” Josh turned round “RAF Northolt have a Chinook standing by with some of Osgood’s colleagues and kit we may need”

“And the dogs?” Kate assimilated the numbers being sent and what they could likely be facing.

“Already airborne with the Colonel ma’am and they’ll liaise with the local UNIT team and civilian authorities as required” he turned back to face the direction of travel after Kate’s nod of approval.

Osgood was nervous and she wasn’t sure why. Things had been progressing very well between them and the sex just kept getting better, although she knew they were concentrating on the basic stuff for now and not being too adventurous. She smiled at her phone as she scrolled through some messages from Kate over the preceding weeks and saw a mixture of friendly, flirty and downright sexy that confirmed that they seemed to be managing to keep being friends and lovers together. Where she was still nervous was their work relationship. She was deep in thought about the next few days and only noticed how deep when Kate reached out and stroked her finger across the back of Osgood’s hand. “Ma’am?” Osgood looked up in surprise, glad that she’d remembered not to call her any of their pet names.

“We’re here, Josh is just getting our bags, are you OK?” Kate took the brunette’s hand and slowly ran her thumb over the knuckles. “Are you worried about flying, it’s only a couple of hours you know?” she tried to catch Osgood’s eyes but the woman was deliberately staring at the floor of the car.

“I’m fine ma’am” Osgood finally pulled herself together. “It’s not the flying so much as the helicopter but I got over it once for Norfolk so I can do this”

“Make sure you’re sitting next to me and I’ll take care of you” Kate tried to sound reassuring.

Osgood raised an eyebrow and grinned. “I know you’re making progress in Geneva but we’re not quite there yet” she joked.

“Os!” Kate gave her a warning as her door was opened and Carter told her they were ready.

The noise of the engines swamped any chance of conversation on the flight north and Osgood spent the time with her team members checking over their equipment. Kate read through what information had been gathered so far and then found herself gazing across the cabin at the rest of the team. She watched those who were clearly uncomfortable flying and then smiled at one of the older scientists who appeared to be asleep despite the noise. Finally, her gaze rested on Osgood and she allowed herself to indulge in watching her girlfriend at work, it seemed to be longer than three weeks since she’d seen her in her element like this. After several minutes of watching the precise movements of those magnificent hands, she turned her head and saw Carter watching her. Raising an eyebrow she waited until he looked away, noting the smile on his face and rolling her eyes at how she had suddenly become so easy to read. The rest of the flight was spent with Kate practicing her poker face and Carter avoiding all eye contact with his boss in case she ordered him thrown into the North Sea.

“Colonel, what do you have for me?” Kate asked as they reached the point where her voice would be heard above the rotors of the helicopter.

“Ma’am” the colonel led her towards a small building at the edge of the airfield. Once inside it was considerably quieter and a lot less windy. “Sorry to call you back from Geneva at short notice” he motioned two soldiers to leave them alone in the small room. “Civilian company using the latest sonar was scouting places for a floating wind farm about 40 miles offshore” he pointed out some areas highlighted on the map. “They thought they’d found an old bomber aircraft from the 1940s that was known to have been shot down near here but when they saw the high-resolution pictures from their remote sub it looks more our kind of thing” he shuffled through a group of photographs and set some down on top of the map. “I don’t think we ever had bombers with that configuration in the RAF” he smiled.

Kate looked at the pictures and then peered at him over the top of her glasses. “That would explain all of those flying saucer sightings, let’s check with the archivist to see when the last sightings were around here” she moved the photographs to get a better look at the map, “So how do we get down there?” she asked, already dreading the answer.

“Kate I’m sorry, we have no choice but to use one of the manned submarines” the Colonel knew that this was another form of transport that had tried and almost succeeded in killing Osgood.

“We’ll be fine” Kate mumbled “When will we be ready to board?” she nodded on his assurance that one more hour would be enough time to get the submersible loaded and ready.

“There’s a fairly basic terminal here for the commercial flights and it serves a decent coffee if you wanted to wait there?” he suggested, hoping she’d realise that this was what she kept him around for and it was better to give the scientists some down time before the action if at all possible.

Kate had left the small building and nodded as the colonel pointed out the other, larger building across the landing area. “Captain Carter, have you seen Osgood and her team?” she asked as Josh jogged past her.

“They’re supervising getting the kit from the Chinook to the submarine ma’am” he nodded as she dismissed him.

Kate looked around the small airfield that was primarily used for commercial helicopter flights that weren’t destined for oil platforms. Spotting the huddled mass of uncomfortable looking scientists she headed in their direction. “Osgood?” she said loudly as she heard raised voices.

“Ma’am” a flustered Osgood winced as she realised that Kate was not going to be happy. 

“Problem?” Kate gazed around the suddenly quiet group before returning to look at Osgood. Raising an eyebrow she turned towards her further to allow a quick wink that would be unseen by the others. 

“Not a problem ma’am” Osgood stood a little straighter. “We’re prioritising what is going on the first submersible with us and what can be left to be brought down later”

“Would I help or hinder?” Kate was straight to the point.

Osgood looked around at the aghast faces and at least one showing incipient panic and knew she needed to get them connected back to the Head of Scientific Research and Development and now was as good a time as any. “You are always a help ma’am” she grinned and heard the gasp behind her.

“Tiptop, show me what you’ve decided so far” Kate took her coat off and laid it over a crate. She spent the next 30 minutes listening to the opinions, agreeing with some and disagreeing with others but always explaining her rationale.

Osgood smiled as she watched her team relax around Kate and see her more as one of them again. There were only so many missions where she could pull a gun and be heroic in the face of the enemy before the geeks thought of her more as military than a scientist. “Josh?” Osgood wondered why the Captain was standing next to her watching the same group activity. “Did you need something?”

Carter smiled and crossed his arms. “Ready to load so I thought I’d help lift some of the heavy stuff” he winked and flexed his arm. “Kate looks to be in her element” he smiled.

Osgood stared at him for several seconds before turning and looking at the group as well, crossing her arms in a subconscious reflection of his pose. “It is her element, science leads after all”

Kate had asked Osgood for a final word and they were watching the team board the submarine. “Are you sure you’ll be OK, it would be perfectly alright for you to stay here and monitor us?” Kate had her hands in her trouser pockets looking around and trying not to make it obvious how worried she was.

“Isn’t this exactly what Geneva is worried about?” Osgood looked around and stuffed her own hands in her jacket pockets to stop her reaching out to touch Kate.

“This honestly isn’t about you as my partner” Kate turned her back on the others and gazed around the rapidly darkening site. “I’d have been suggesting this even if we’d only been friends or work colleagues”

“I can’t ask my team to go down there if I won’t do it myself” Osgood rocked back on her heels. She was actually feeling nauseous about going underwater again but this was her job and she was worried about the loud voice in her head telling her to let Kate give her an out.

“No, but I could order you to stay here” Kate smiled softly.

“But you’d go” the younger woman squinted up at the blonde, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I missed you last night so let’s spend some time together poking about in alien stuff”

Kate took her right hand from her pocket and almost touched Osgood before she managed to stop herself. She made a gesture towards the dock instead and they both started walking together. “I love you,” she said quietly, without looking to her side.

“Yeah, yeah, you can show me at the weekend” the younger woman grinned and headed for the Colonel and Captain waiting for them. “I’m OK” she assured both of them as she climbed aboard and started down the ladder. They all looked at each other and Kate shrugged then rolled her eyes as they heard the distinctive noise of an inhaler being used.

“Can we get some more light over there” Kate pointed to the right of the large hunk of metal they were all looking at through the viewscreen. She bit her lip and leaned a little closer as the outside light source was moved into position and they all saw the glint of clean metal embedded in the seafloor. “I thought everything rusted in the North Sea” she muttered and looked towards the readouts they were getting from the scanners they’d set up. “Any idea how big it is and how long it’s been there?” she asked in general and waited for someone to give her an answer.

“We can see about 50% of it ma’am” Osgood replied. “And no, no idea when it landed yet”

The submarine moved slowly around the site, eerily quiet except for the noise of scientists typing frantically and occasional mumbled conversations when something interesting popped up on a reading somewhere.

“Power, life signs, Sky TV football?” Kate looked around and saw confused faces as the Colonel laughed behind her and Josh coughed to cover his own laugh.

“No readings at all ma’am” Osgood ignored the sarcasm, she was just as frustrated at the lack of information and knew that Kate joked to hide hers.

An hour later they had scanned every inch that was visible and under the seafloor and it was obvious that nothing was going to jump out and give them lots of exposition on what was going on. “Let’s surface and we can dump this data into some bigger computers, hopefully, we can figure something out” there was a poorly controlled sigh of relief from most of the scientists which Kate ignored. “Colonel, can we quarantine this area?”

“Royal Navy is already above us ma’am and we’ve had a word with our US and Russian counterparts to ask them to steer clear with their submarines as well” he answered, glad to be of some use finally, even if they were heading back.

Kate stood back and let Osgood go up the ladder before her, having one last look around at the interior. “Fresh air is good, even when it’s this cold” she shuddered as she stood on the dockside some minutes later. 

“I didn’t realise we were down there for that long” Osgood yawned behind her hand and tucked her coat around her more securely.

The Colonel had been talking on his mobile and smiled as he put it in his pocket and headed towards them. “Good news, the jets have arrived and are being refueled, we should be ready to take off in 30 minutes”

Kate stretched her back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Excellent, I wasn’t looking forward to that helicopter again” she checked her watch before pulling her phone from her pocket. “Just got a quick call to make” she walked off to give her some privacy.

“You OK?” Josh asked Osgood as he arrived with them. “The kit is all stowed on the Chinook and it’ll be back at the Tower in the morning” he checked his watch. “Well later this morning” he amended.

“I’m fine,” Osgood said before another yawn overtook her. “We’re flying back?” she asked.

“The UNIT jet that was in Morocco was retasked to pick us up and our usual jet cleared its engineering checks this afternoon” Josh explained and checked his watch again. “Long day” he sighed.

Osgood watched Kate have an animated conversation before nodding in reply to Josh. She knew that Kate had started off her morning with an early meeting in Geneva before getting the call that she was needed back at the Tower. A particularly cold gust of wind ruffled her hair and she pulled the collar of her coat more tightly around her neck. Kate had finished her call and was walking back towards them, her jacket and coat both open and showing off an impressively still-white shirt. “Ready?” she asked, not entirely sure what she wanted Kate to be ready for.

“Geneva update is done and I’ve told them I’ll be here until we figure this out” Kate was nonchalant but she saw how Osgood tried to stifle the grin. “So let’s get back to the balmy delights of London and see what we have here”


	6. Aberdeen & London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another city for the busy UNIT teams.
> 
> Another reference to something that happened in the most recent UNIT Big Finish adventure in this one, if you haven't listened yet you should but just accept that Osgood and submarines are not mixy things at the moment. The poor woman is running out of transport options!

“I thought you said this had passed maintenance checks this afternoon?” Osgood glared at Josh as they all stood back on the tarmac again. She frowned as the other jet could be seen disappearing into the distance, having taken off several minutes before with most of the scientists and soldiers on it. She knew it wasn’t Josh’s fault but the thought of her bed and a warm Kate beside her was rapidly receding as the early hours of the morning crept by.

“We’re calling it a night, there’s a hotel not far from here and we can get a few hours sleep before they get the problem fixed” Kate sauntered back over to them having had a terse conversation with the engineer who had the misfortune to be on-call that night. “Not much else we can do” she shrugged apologetically at Osgood. 

“I’ll get the bags” Josh suggested and the Colonel nodded at him and left to make the arrangements with the hotel.

“I’m sorry,” Kate said and ran her hand down Osgood’s arm, clasping her hand and squeezing gently.

“Not your fault” Osgood mumbled and could hear the petulance in her tone. “Sorry, I’m just cold and tired and I think that submarine took it out of me a bit” she admitted before noticing what Kate was doing. Letting Kate’s hand go she nodded her head towards Josh “Someone might see” she hissed.

“He saw me watching you earlier today, I’m fairly sure he’s made an educated guess already” Kate took hold of her hand again and lifted it to kiss the knuckles. “And if he really is completely clueless then I’m sure I can snog you in the car on the way to the hotel to give him the message”

“Kate” Osgood whined. “I really want to be snuggling with you too but we need to be careful until you’ve sorted out the stuff in Geneva”

“Oh bugger Geneva” Kate whispered as she put her arm around Osgood, rubbing her hand over her back. “You’re frozen and I’m tired and my girlfriend needs a hug”

Osgood checked Josh again and saw that he seemed to be deliberately standing with his back to them as he talked to the Colonel. She sighed and gave in “You are incorrigible” she muttered and turned into Kate’s arms to hug her. They were still holding hands when they walked to the car that would take them to the hotel.

***************************

“So you don’t have any rooms?” Kate pinched the bridge of her nose as she heard Osgood moan behind her. “But my colleague called less than 30 minutes ago and you said you had rooms then”

Osgood walked away from the desk, she needed to sit down and sleep anywhere fairly soon. “I don’t see the point in having an armed guard if you can’t sort this kind of thing for us” she whispered to Josh as he sat beside her. 

“That’s plan B” Josh winked. “I’m sure the boss will fix it pretty soon” he leaned back and crossed his ankles as he stretched his legs out. “So…” he waited for Osgood to open one eye and glare at him before grinning. “You could have told me” he shrugged.

“We weren’t” Osgood made a complicated hand signal that was presumably to mean them being together.

“Probably just as well, she’d have had me melted down for lego spare parts” he looked a little worried at the thought. “I’m glad you’ve found someone” he nudged her shoulder with his.

Osgood looked at him and saw the cheeky grin. “Oh shut up” she grinned back at him. “It’s super secret until she can figure out the HR stuff in Geneva”

“What’s the problem?” he asked, keen to keep her attention while they were hanging about.

“Soldiers have rules and regulations for this kind of thing but scientists don’t apparently” she locked her fingers together.

“Soldiers just get a rollicking and told not to do it again” Josh was miles away, remembering a particularly painful ear-bashing when he’d been at Sandhurst.

“Yeah well that won’t work here, not like we want to stop seeing each other” Osgood bit her bottom lip. “Or at least I hope that’s not what they come up with”

“Don’t worry, you’ll both be getting stuck in Aberdeen or other random places for years to come, UNIT couldn’t cope without you both” Josh put his hand over hers on the arm of the chair. “If you need someone to talk to” he was looking at Osgood and didn’t see the approach of his two superiors, realising only when Osgood looked up and her eyes got very wide.

“Captain Carter” Kate said sharply. “The annoyingly dour chap at the desk seems to have forgotten how many rooms they have, would you mind explaining how he can remember the four empty rooms he has for us quite quickly?”

“Ma’am” Josh had jumped to his feet and sketched a fairly good salute considering he was withering under a level one glare. He reached into his bag before marching towards the desk, pulling on his beret without a second thought and holstering his weapon on his hip.

“I thought shooting people was plan B?” Osgood asked as Kate stood over her. “We were just talking Kate”

Kate clenched her jaw for a minute before nodding. “I know, sorry, just caught me off guard” she turned to see the Colonel was also now wearing his beret and sidearm, making it clear to the flustered hotel night manager that there was a compelling reason to find them rooms and get them out of his hotel lobby.

Osgood held out her hand for Kate to take and pulled her down into the seat next to her. “We’re all tired so let’s not do or say anything that will cause issues in the morning” she kissed the top of Kate’s head where it was bent over her knees, her head in her hands.

“Sorry” Kate mumbled. “If we don’t get this sorted out soon I’m just going to sleep here” she sat back, resting her head on the wall behind them. Osgood did the same and they sat beside each other, eyes closed and holding hands as they dropped into a light snooze.

“Ma’am” the Colonel cleared his throat and stood in front of them, trying not to smile at how right it looked for them to be together like this. He’d been surprised when Kate had called him into her office and explained what was happening between her and Osgood. While he had similar concerns to the Generals in Geneva he had the advantage of having worked with both of them for several years and knew that they would handle this situation with the same aplomb and skill that they handled everything else. He respected both of them and wanted to make this as easy for them as possible. “Ma’am,” he said a little louder and winced as Kate opened one eye and glared at him. 

“Did we need to shoot anybody?” she asked quietly, turning her head to see Osgood’s eyes were still closed.

“Apparently he suddenly remembered the rooms we were talking about and has had our bags taken up” he waited for Kate to blow out a breath and sit up, gently rocking Osgood’s shoulder to wake her too. At her quizzical look, he knew she wanted a little more information. “If some of the big oil executives have the same problems as us they are usually more than happy to oil the wheels of commerce by bunging him a hundred or so to make sure they get a bed”

“Carter persuaded him that Her Majesty’s government frowns on that kind of free market swindling?” Kate stood and stretched.

“He’s looking forward to a visit from our colleagues at HMRC to look into his books, I doubt he’ll be pulling the same trick again for a while” Shindi looked down at a still dozing Osgood. “Carter could carry her…,” he suggested and was surprised at the frown.

“Os, wake up” Kate leaned over her and shook her shoulder slightly more vigorously, she was not having Carter carrying her girlfriend to their bed. 

Osgood was in the middle of a particularly vivid dream about Missy and, randomly, several dancing chimney sweeps. In her dream, Missy had just grabbed her arm and she reacted without thinking, swinging a punch in her direction and trying to see how she could escape. The grunt that she heard in response to her right hook was rather less Scottish and insane sounding than she’d expected and it didn’t take long for her brain to catch up. She opened her eyes to see Kate standing a step back from her, holding a hand over her left eye. “Kate, I’m sorry, I thought you were Missy” she jumped up, slightly dizzy with the transition from dream to reality. 

“This day cannot get any worse” Kate muttered under her breath and took her hand away from her face, relieved to see that there didn’t seem to be any blood. “Let’s just get some sleep” she suggested and turned towards where the nervous hotel manager was waiting to show them to their rooms.

“Nice right hook Osgood” the Colonel walked beside the young woman. “Have you been practicing?”

The manager ushered the two men into their separate rooms and stood outside the third room “The other room is just around this corner” he pointed and jumped when Kate took both key cards out of his hand.

“We’ll figure it out” she growled and he scurried off. “Come on” she gestured for Osgood to go into the room first and leaned against the back of the door when she closed it. “I’m getting too old for this” she grumbled and pushed off of the door to hang up her coat and jacket.

Osgood went into the bathroom and was relieved to see a decent looking shower. She went back to open her bag and then took a washcloth into the bathroom, wetting it with cold water before returning to the bedroom. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly.

“It’s OK, I should just have let Josh carry you to bed” Kate winced at the cold cloth over her eye and shrugged as Osgood huffed. “I’m joking love, honestly I’ll be fine”

Osgood hung up her own coat and moved to empty what they needed out of their bags. “I’m so tired” she yawned as she sat on a chair to untie her shoes.

“Mmmm” Kate agreed as she threw off her shirt and bra, standing to let her trousers drop to the floor. “Bed” she murmured as she pulled back the quilt and sunk slowly onto her back, sighing as she felt the half decent mattress under her. “C’mere” she gestured with her right hand, patting the bed beside her.

Osgood shook her head, carefully folding the clothes Kate had dropped and put her own away before checking her alarm one more time and leaving it beside the bed. “No funny business” she smiled as she slid into bed before realising that Kate was already asleep. “Definitely no funny business” she sighed and switched off her bedside light, falling asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

“Bloody hell” Kate groaned from the bathroom a few hours later. “Were you wearing knuckle dusters last night?” she came back into the bedroom wrapped in a slightly too small towel and pointed at her black eye.

“I’m never going to live this down” Osgood blushed. “I was dreaming and Missy was there and she grabbed my arm just as you did so I must have thought……” she trailed off and tried to look contrite while tracing the path of several water droplets from Kate’s hair down her cleavage.

“I don’t mind that you can defend yourself love but I’m a bit miffed that you mistook me for a homicidal Scottish maniac with a brolly!” Kate smiled and then grimaced. “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts when I smile” she pouted.

Osgood moved in front of her, kissing her gently “I’ll kiss it better properly when we’re home” she assured her. “Now get dressed, we said we’d meet them at the car in 10 minutes”

**********************************

“Ma’am” Colonel Shindi managed to keep a straight face and avoid reacting when he met them. “Osgood” he nodded and took their bags, putting them in the boot of the car.

“Get it out of your system” Kate pointed at her eye. “We won’t be mentioning it once we’re back in London”

“Mention what ma’am?” he asked innocently and then winked at Osgood as Kate shook her head and walked round to the other door. 

“Ready to go?” Josh asked as he turned in his seat to check with them. “Woah” his eyes opened wide and he turned to look at Osgood “Remind me never to surprise you”

“Not again” Osgood tried to keep her smile to a minimum and hoped that Kate wouldn’t get the reference to their kiss in the Antarctic base.

Josh opened his mouth to say something else when Kate interrupted. “Unless you want to be reassigned to the new Antarctic base permanently I’d suggest you drive, Captain Carter”

Osgood looked at Kate and saw her hiding a smile, relieved to see that she wasn’t actually that annoyed. When they got back to the airfield the jet’s engines were already running and the pilot was waiting for them. Kate and the Colonel headed on board as Osgood took a last look around the airfield. “You shouldn’t tease her,” she said as she felt Josh stand beside her. “We’ve not been together long enough for us to be teasable about this yet”

“Is that a word?” he grinned. She turned to rebuke him and he took a step back, putting his hands up defensively. “Alright Nicola, take it easy” he took a step back.

“Nicola?” Osgood knew she was being teased again but didn’t get the reference.

“Adams, first Olympic medal for boxing and she’s a Brit” he supplied and laughed at her groan. 

*********************************

The jet touched down in London and they were transferred straight into one of the Tower SUVs for the fast drive to their office. “Sitrep in 15 minutes,” Kate said to Osgood as she headed for her own office, seeing Osgood nod and head for her lab. Ten minutes later Kate had given up on trying to get through the stack of phone messages from the last day and headed to the labs herself. “Osgood?” she asked as she pushed open the door of her office. “Where is she?” she asked the first lab coat wearing person she found after heading down another corridor. Hearing raised voices from one of the labs nearby she waved off the confusion on the face of the person she asked “Never mind, I’ll find her” she strode towards the noise.

“We were in a submarine, of course, we could have blown it up you stupid woman” Kate stopped outside the lab without entering and listened to what was going on.

“We don’t blow up things we don’t understand” she heard Osgood reply in a remarkably even tone of voice.

“You may not understand it but it’s a bloody UFO, how much more evidence do you need!” Kate let the silence last for a few seconds, weighing up the how important it was for Osgood to be able to resolve this herself without her jumping in to help with how much she wanted to find out which scientist they had mistakenly employed who’d rather blow things up than study them. When no answer was forthcoming she coughed and entered the room, finding a group of team members standing behind Osgood and facing the irate young man who’d caused trouble during the Finnish situation. They all turned to see Kate’s entrance, except Osgood, and the young man suddenly got very pale and took a step towards Osgood. “Stay right where you are,” Kate said quietly but it was unmistakably an order. “Osgood, what’s going on?” she said much more gently than she meant to.

“I made a mistake,” Osgood said quietly and the young man barked out a laugh and raised his hands as if to say she finally agreed with him. “It’s not working out, can we arrange for Jones to administer the hypospray and reintegration?” she looked towards her boss, seeing the anger that was being very well disguised for everyone else.

“What?” for the first time the man realised he wasn’t quite sure what was happening. “Look just tell the boss I’m right and we can all get on with our work” he took another step forward and was dumbfounded when Kate took two quick steps to put herself between him and Osgood’s team, at least she could pretend it was the team she was concerned about. 

“McGillop call Jones” Kate ordered and slowly removed her jacket, intentionally making everyone aware that she was wearing a shoulder holster and weapon. “Osgood, can you get your team to set up the sitrep in the other lab please?”

“Ma’am” Osgood nodded at everyone and they all continued to look on in horror. “Move” she shooed them all out the door and waited for McGillop to finish his call to internal security before shooing him out as well. He swallowed nervously and nodded his head towards Kate with raised eyebrows. “We’ll be fine” Osgood assured him, although she wasn’t sure what it was that had freaked him out the most. Scientists were removed and reintegrated to society with altered memories very rarely these days, they had gotten much better at screening out those unlikely to be able to deal with their life. “Dr. Stewart” Osgood walked towards her, staying a few feet away. “Is the weapon necessary ma’am?” she asked what would hopefully be seen as a fairly reasonable question under the circumstances.

“We’re in the middle of a possible alien incursion and this boy spends his time questioning your authority and calling you stupid” Kate’s eyes hadn’t left his face and she watched him slump into a chair as the consequences of his actions finally became clear to him. “Are we clear of the rest of your team?” Kate asked. On hearing Osgood’s confirmation she unhooked the weapon and took it out of the holster, chambering a round but leaving the safety on for now. She turned to see Osgood several feet away and motioned her closer. “Are you alright?” she asked quietly. Osgood nodded and then looked pointedly at the drawn weapon. “How long has he been treating you like this?” she asked.

“The Finnish thing was the first time but we had a talk afterward and he said he’d work on his interpersonal skills” Osgood had both hands jammed in her lab coat pockets, fighting the urge to reach out and touch Kate to reassure her. “It seems that actually seeing an alien ship up close and personal yesterday has overloaded his ability to bullshit me any longer”

Kate looked up sharply, she’d never heard Osgood swear at work, even when hordes of Cybermen had been attacking them. “Bus driver in Outer Mongolia?” she asked, trying to distract herself from pistol whipping the sorry excuse for an adult.

“Sewage worker in Florida?” Osgood joined the well-known game within UNIT, making sure that Kate stepped back from wanting to shoot her ex-geologist.

“What?” he asked, having no idea what was going on and what these ridiculous women were wittering on about. “Look you stupid……” he never got any further as Kate lifted the gun and waited until he stopped screaming. 

“You call Osgood stupid again and I’ll put this gun down and hit you really very hard” she kept her voice even only with a supreme effort. “Jones is on his way down, in the meantime, this gun is to make you sit on that seat and shut your mouth” she waited for him to nod and returned the weapon to the side of her leg. “Ice cream van driver in Siberia” she turned and smiled at Osgood’s grin.

“Good one” Osgood agreed, nonchalantly leaning back against a workbench. “Fireplace salesman in Hong Kong”

“Monoblocking in Mauritius” Kate laughed at the wince Osgood gave her for that suggestion.

“Eiffel Tower souvenir shop in Blackpool” even Osgood couldn’t stop the giggle as she suggested this one, looking up as Kate laughed out loud.

“That’s the one” Kate gingerly touched her eye, she was reminded of the bruising when she laughed. “Do you come from the North West of England?” she asked the petrified young man and raised an eyebrow when he didn’t answer straight away. “Hurry up, you won’t remember for much longer” she impatiently scolded him and he whimpered.

“Kent, please don’t hurt me” he was crying now and Osgood felt a little sympathy for him.

“Good news, Blackpool is far enough removed from Kent that rock boy here won’t be likely to be recognised” Kate nodded in satisfaction.

“Rock boy?” Osgood asked.

“He’s a sorry excuse for a geologist” Kate pointed out smugly, she didn’t often get a joke past Osgood. “Well he is for another ten minutes or so then he’ll be selling Blackpool Rock on the front in December for all I care”

Jones arrived with a small black case and saluted Kate. Immediately he saw her firearm was in her hand and unclipped his own, putting the case down on a workbench and putting himself between Osgood and the sniveling scientist on the chair. “Ma’am?” he asked, waiting to be updated on the situation.

“How long was he here?” Kate asked Osgood and she holstered her own weapon and put her jacket back on.

“Seven months” Osgood answered from memory, she’d checked when they had had their previous discussions.

“Excellent, get him out of here and then erase the last seven months” Kate checked her shirt sleeves were comfortable under her jacket. “Relocate him to Blackpool and set him up with a small souvenir stand selling Eiffel Tower models” she grinned.

Jones kept the young man in his sight but took several seconds to work through the instructions. “Eiffel Towers in Blackpool ma’am?” he asked, this was one of the weirder alternate lives that his boss had come up with.

“It seems that Osgood has a level of whimsy in her alternates that even surpasses my own” Kate smiled at Jones and nodded to Osgood to precede her out the door. “Let me know when it’s done” 

“Ma’am” Jones answered and waited for the door to close before holstering his weapon and walking towards the petrified man. “Don’t worry, the injection doesn’t hurt too much but I hope you like rain and chips, mate” he clapped him on the shoulder before punching him once, catching him before he slid off the chair. “That’s for messing with Osgood,” he said into the ex-scientists ear. This part wasn’t strictly part of the process but McGillop had passed on what had happened here and previously and Jones was one of Osgood’s many fans in the permanent military detachment based in the Tower.

“Right, excitement over” Osgood walked into the other room and was pleased to see most of her team were working on getting the final displays online for their debrief with Kate and the Colonel. “I’ll have a word with them later,” she said quietly to Kate as they waited at the back of the room.

“The gun wasn’t loaded” Kate murmured quietly. “Probably just as well, if he’d kept on I might have been tempted”

“Kate” Osgood was annoyed. “I don’t need you rushing in to fight my battles for me” she crossed her arms. “Why isn’t your gun loaded and why are you even wearing it at the Tower anyway?”

“I’ll explain later,” Kate said as Colonel Shindi arrived with Carter and a few other soldiers. “Let’s get started” she suggested and they all moved to seats around the conference table.

“We checked with the Archivist and found the last sighting of a UFO around that part of the world was in 1963” Osgood began, passing over to the Archivist to give details of what they’d managed to gather from local newspaper stories at the time. “We can’t tell how long it’s been down there but once the material analyses come back we can tie in whether the sightings and this crash are connected”

“Aliens shooting JFK?” Josh joked.

“Or Christine Keeler was an alien?” Kate joined in, releasing the tension from earlier.

“Or misogynists from the Planet Zorg failed in their attempt to stop Valentina Tereshkova becoming the first woman in space?” Shindi suggested to sudden silence in the room. “What, I was interested in the Space Programmes when I was a child!” he protested and gave Kate a wink once the scientists had all gone back to their screens.

“Anyway” Osgood returned them to the proper briefing. “We also found what appears to be a missing section of the hull on the buried section” she motioned for one of her team to display the sonar high-resolution scan they had done the day before. “One hypothesis is that this is an escape pod and the pilot baled out as the ship was crashing” she nodded and another screen popped up showing various graphs, almost all of which had minimal straight line readings. “Not much activity on any of the usual spectrum and the site doesn’t appear to be strategic in any way we can discern”

“Until now,” Kate said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have found it” she explained her thinking.

“Not really” Osgood shook her head. “These were first-pass surveys and the final floating wind farm site could be anywhere within a 50-mile radius of that point, so nothing to be gained by preemptively crashing there five decades early”

Everyone waited for the military team to confer among themselves briefly before Shindi straightened his shoulders. “Seems like another benign artifact to add to your database Osgood” he nodded and stood, his team following his lead and leaving the room to the scientists.

“Ma’am?” Osgood waited for her reaction. 

“I think the Colonel may be right” Kate nodded as she ran through several different scenarios in her mind. “About this I mean, not the aliens from Planet Zorg” she clarified and everyone in the room laughed, the tension from before dissipating almost completely. “I need to take care of some things, can we have a meeting at 6 tonight to go over some outstanding issues?” Kate asked and Osgood squinted at her before agreeing.

*******************************

“Outstanding issues?” Osgood asked as she knocked on Kate’s door several hours later. 

“Osgood, come in” Kate waved her in and pointed at the other occupant in the room. 

“Sam” Osgood smiled and hoped he’d put her blush down to seeing him and not what she’d been about to say to Kate without realising she wasn’t alone. “What are you doing here?” she asked as they stepped back from a hug.

“We’ve finished up in Brazil and I was wondering where I was heading to next” he smiled. “Have you got time for dinner tonight?” he asked hopefully, he liked Osgood and they had bonded over their trip to the ISS, even if nobody else remembered it.

“Em” Osgood used all of her control to not look at Kate, she didn’t know what her plans were.

“Good idea, you could probably do with a night out after the last few days,” Kate said softly. “Sam, if you give us 10 minutes to finish up the Aberdeen thing now you can both have the evening free” she smiled as he left, arranging to meet Osgood at the main entrance when they were both finished.

“You don’t mind?” Osgood checked with Kate once the door had closed.

“Of course not, Sam’s your friend and you should catch up while he’s in town,” Kate said, she genuinely wanted the young woman to continue with the few friendships that she had, knowing that they were important to her.

“You could come as well, Sam wouldn’t tell anyone about us” Osgood suggested. “I don’t want to miss seeing you before you go back to Geneva”

“Tell Sam about us, I don’t mind, he’s a good man and you shouldn’t feel like you’re skulking around in secret” she stood and pulled the younger woman into a hug. “How about I go home and sort out some clothes then wait for you at your place?” she pulled back to see Osgood’s reaction to this plan. “That way you have time with Sam and can tell him what’s going on and we still get to snuggle up at the end of the night”

“Another excellent plan Dr. Stewart” Osgood reached up to kiss her nose. “Here, I won’t be late but go to bed if you’re tired” she handed her a keyring.

********************************

Kate sunk onto the sofa, cradling the whisky glass in one hand and a book on the medicinal properties of herbs in the other. She looked around the small room, feeling relaxed and cosy, taking some time to consider the turn her life had taken. She was surprised that it had only been a few weeks since she had admitted her feelings for the brunette and yet she struggled to remember a time before she’d felt this content and comfortable. For years her work had consumed her life and she’d given up any hope of personal happiness outside of a job well done and saving the planet a few times a year. Now she got all of that and a beautiful woman who seemed, inexplicably, to feel the same way about her. Settling further into the soft cushions she sipped the excellent whisky and dove into the antibacterial properties of Oregon Grape Roots.

Osgood opened her front door and returned her spare key back to its hiding place. “Kate?” she asked quietly, not hearing any noise. Walking into the living room she smiled and quickly took her phone out to sneak a photograph of her adorably cute girlfriend sound asleep on her sofa with a book lying on her stomach. “Kate, honey” she moved the book and the coffee table away and knelt beside the sleeping blonde. Gently moving Kate’s hair from near her eyes she leaned over and kissed her softly.

Kate was smiling by the time the kisses woke her up. “Mmmmm better than an alarm clock” she moved to sit up. “Sorry I didn’t mean to fall asleep”

“That’s OK, let’s blame the scotch” Osgood nodded towards the empty glass.

“Remind me to buy your dad another bottle” Kate sheepishly ran her hand through her hair. “What time is it?” she yawned.

“About 9 I think” Osgood pretended she hadn’t been checking her watch constantly. “Sam says hi and congratulations” she continued the conversation as she moved to the kitchen, switching the kettle on and tidying away some dishes. 

“Was he congratulating me on my fabulous taste in women?” Kate wrapped her arms around the younger woman’s waist and nosed her hair out of the way to get at her neck. “Because you are fabulous” she mumbled between kisses.

“I thought you were tired?” Osgood turned in her arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter, pulling Kate against her. 

“I am but it’s too early to go to bed, can we read or listen to music or something?” Kate kissed her again.

“If you keep kissing me like that we will be going to bed” Osgood whispered in her ear as she caught her breath. “Are you OK?” she asked as she understood what Kate was avoiding telling her, “Why the need to decompress with our clothes on?”

“Just overtired I think” Kate tried to bluff her way out of the corner she’d painted herself into.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood shrugged and stepped out of the embrace, sorting out two mugs and some green tea-bags now that the kettle had boiled. 

“Damn” Kate muttered under her breath. “I’m sorry” she took two steps back and leaned against the door frame. “I’ve missed you” she admitted and was glad that Osgood let her continue without interruption. “Geneva has been a hard slog and it’s been even harder because our weekends together have been so special” Osgood handed her a mug and walked to the sofa, sitting down and patting the seat next to her. Kate followed her and sat down, staring into her mug for a few seconds before deciding on what she wanted to say. “We’ve almost finished in Geneva and I was hoping to be able to get back home this week and we could talk about how we wanted to let our friends know and just relax into this wonderful new relationship”

Osgood waited for Kate to continue before prodding her with “And then a UFO crashed in the North Sea 60 years ago” 

“Yes” she nodded and sipped her tea. “I really don’t want to have to go back there tomorrow, I’ve not been sleeping well and trying to make sure you didn’t find out” Kate’s hair had fallen across her eyes and she brushed it back before looking at the brunette. “Do I sound like a whining six-year-old?”

“No” Osgood shook her head. “If you are nearly done then don’t go back” she shrugged as if it was the obvious answer. “What’s the worst they can do?”

“Well…” Kate stopped to think through what the top brass could realistically do if she called them in the morning and told them to send her luggage back. “Actually there isn’t much” she acknowledged and felt a little lighter for the admission. “The procedures we’ve written so far cover the people who need to be informed in this kind of situation and that’s already been done”

“So stay in London, get your bags sent back and catch up on some sleep” Osgood shrugged again. “You must be tired if you’ve been worrying over this”

“I…” Kate blinked and looked surprised. “You’re OK with that?”

“Mmmm let me see, am I OK with my gorgeous, adorable girlfriend staying in London rather than spending another week in a Swiss hotel?” Osgood tapped her bottom lip and tried to look serious. “I will miss the phone sex” she tilted her head to the side as if weighing up the alternatives. “But overall I think I’d rather have the dopey sod sitting next to me drinking green tea every night”

“Hey” Kate mock protested. “I don’t even like green tea” she tried to pout but it was difficult while drinking the green tea that Osgood had made for her.

“Uh huh” Osgood smiled before standing and switching on some speakers. “Classical or random stuff?” she checked and scrolled to the classical section on Kate’s answer. “Now, I have a report to read or my grumpy boss will shout at me in the morning” she sat in the chair across from Kate, leaving her mug on a table as she pulled papers from her bag.

“Suits me, I have herbs to research” Kate stretched out on the sofa with her book and tried to concentrate on what she was reading. 

An hour later Osgood shuffled the papers together and returned them to her bag. She looked up and grinned as she saw the blonde fast asleep on the sofa again, this time the book was still gripped in her right hand. “Hey, come on, bedtime” she shook Kate’s shoulder and grabbed the book as it fell from her hands. “Go and get ready and I’ll close up in here” she kissed her forehead and took their mugs to the kitchen.

Kate brushed her teeth and scowled at herself, she was annoyed at falling asleep twice in as many hours. She heard Osgood switching off lights in the living room and dried her mouth and hands on the towel. “Sorry” she murmured as she found the brunette in the bedroom. 

“You’re tired love, it’s OK” Osgood assured her and went to brush her own teeth. When she came back to the room she found Kate propped up in bed, scrolling through her phone. “Everything alright?” she asked, getting undressed and hanging up her clothes.

“Mmmm?” Kate looked at her over the top of her reading glasses. “Oh yes, I was just checking some emails after I sent the message to Geneva” she dropped the phone and glasses on the bedside table.

“Maybe you should have waited till morning” Osgood suggested, sliding into bed beside Kate. “You’re usually a bit more……..terse…..when you’re tired”

Kate leaned in to kiss her neck, nipping at her earlobe “No more work” she whispered and followed the brunette as she turned onto her back, kissing her slowly.

Osgood pulled Kate closer, one hand on her hip and another in her hair as the kiss deepened. She attempted to roll them over but Kate pushed her leg between Osgood’s and suddenly the younger woman didn’t want to move anywhere. “Missed you” she got out quickly between kisses that were becoming increasingly sloppy.

“Mmmmmmmm” Kate just moaned as she slid her knee a little higher and felt Osgood grind against her thigh. Her left hand trailed from her hair to gently squeeze Osgood’s breast, catching the nipple between the base of her thumb and index finger and tugging a little. 

Osgood hissed as she felt her nipple harden and tilted her hips, pushing herself harder against Kate’s thigh and pulling her closer. “Please” she groaned as she pulled back from the blonde’s mouth, needing to breathe and knowing that Kate would now move down her body as she usually did.

“Os” Kate pulled back, resting her upper body weight on her elbows either side of the young woman’s shoulders. “Os?” she tried again and waited for the brown eyes to flutter open. “You remember that night when we talked on the phone?” her breathing was speeding up as she wondered whether it was a good idea to bring this up now.

“Phone?” Osgood blinked to clear her head, although the thigh that was pushing against her clit wasn’t helping her. 

“The night we first told each other what we were doing” Kate knew she was blushing, which was ridiculous for a 51-year-old naked woman but there didn’t appear to be anything she could do to stop it from happening and it was almost certainly going to get worse. “Can you show me?” she hoped that Osgood would figure out what she was asking as she wasn’t entirely sure she could spell it out any further without combusting with embarrassment.

Osgood’s eyebrows matched the speed of her thoughts as she finally realised what Kate was talking about. “You want to watch me….?” in her defense her brain had already been fairly scrambled without this suggestion so she wasn’t going to be too hard on herself for not finishing that sentence.

“Please” Kate nodded and pulled back a little further, staring down the length of the beautiful body underneath her. “Only if you want to……..I mean if it’s too much then I can….” she ground to a halt as Osgood’s hand slipped from her hip to move towards her own clit. 

“You too” Osgood kept her eyes glued to Kate’s and only glanced down when the older woman moved off of her and onto her side, her own hand sliding down to rest on her thigh. “You’re so beautiful” Osgood managed to gasp out as her fingers circled her clit. “Hearing your voice when you told me what you were doing to yourself…..” she closed her eyes, remembering the shot of arousal that had zinged through her that night.

“Jesus Os” Kate screwed her eyes shut, she was almost coming before she even touched herself as she remembered that phone call as well. Opening her eyes again she saw Osgood’s mouth dropping open and her tongue swiping her bottom lip “I imagined it was you” she managed to grind out as her eyes dropped to watch the brunette's hand moving between her legs. “All you” she slid her own finger around her clit and watched as Osgood squinted at her through barely open eyes. Kate lifted the hand from her thigh to squeeze her breasts, rolling the nipples, deciding that she had only minutes left before she would be coming whether she touched her clit or not. 

Osgood could barely see Kate’s movements, the struggle to hold back her orgasm making it impossible to have control over any other part of her body apart from her left hand. She heard a gasp followed by a moan and felt the reaction in her pelvis, muscles tightening and straining beyond her control. “You….sound…...so…...sexy” she managed through gritted teeth, losing the battle and arching her back to push her clit tighter against her own fingers. “Kate!” she growled before the orgasm took over and she held on to Kate’s arm as she came hard, twitching in time with the muscle spasms deep in her abdomen that spread across her entire body. “Fuck” she whispered as she slid back down into conscious thought again.

Kate had clenched her jaw and stopped touching herself as she watched the brunette’s orgasm sweep over her. “So beautiful” she sighed and flicked her own clit twice with her index finger to usher her own little death.


	7. London & Finland & Aberdeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuing adventures of our world-saving scientists, with occasional help from the fun toys that the military provides.
> 
> This chapter was aided and abetted by Sandra Pascoe, the leader of our little troupe of Kate-aholics over on Facebook - thanks for the confirmation on naming conventions and I hope I got it right! Any mistakes are entirely because I should have been in bed 2 hours ago but I wanted to get this chapter out for you guys :)

Kate pottered around Osgood’s kitchen early the next morning. She had slept remarkably well and felt refreshed today, probably helped by the naps she’d had the previous evening as well as the spectacular orgasms that they’d watched and then shared between them. She was trying to make Osgood breakfast in bed when she heard the alarm wakening the younger woman up, swiftly followed by a muffled thump. Carrying two mugs of coffee towards the bed she smiled at the sight of brunette hair spread across both pillows and arms and legs stretching across the entire mattress. “Just as well I got out of your way” she suggested and put Osgood’s mug down before walking around and sitting against the headboard. “You were magnificent last night, by the way” she heard the grunt from under a pillow and patiently waited for the coffee to tempt the young scientist out to face her. Grabbing her phone and glasses she started scrolling through emails and paid little attention to the groans and moans emanating from Osgood until the brunette was sitting half propped up as well and sipping her coffee. “Morning darling” she leaned across and kissed her cheek.

Osgood felt so relaxed that she imagined it would take several espressos to kick-start her system. She thought back to their tangled bodies the previous night after they had touched themselves they had returned to touching each other increasingly frantically until she’d had one of the most intense orgasms of her life. Her brain helpfully replayed the sound of Kate swearing quietly but right beside her ear, every delightfully enunciated syllable sending electric sparks down her nerves until they all gathered to cause what felt like an explosion which she was sure had caused her to black out for several seconds. The caffeine was starting to kick in and she struggled to come up with the words to tell this wonderful woman what she meant to her. “I love you” she finally managed and was rewarded with a beaming smile and several minutes of kissing that rapidly returned them to the previous night.

“We really can’t start again” Kate pulled away and frowned. “I’m sure your boss would forgive you but I know mine won’t” she sipped some coffee and talked herself down from kissing away Osgood’s pout.

Osgood squinted at the clock beside the bed and blew out a breath. “You can shower first if you want if you need to leave before me?”

“We’re going in together, no more hiding and pretending” Kate ran her free hand down Osgood’s arm, watching the smile start and grow as the implications of what she was hearing made their way through her brain with the aid of caffeine. “Perhaps we can shower together?” Kate suggested, hopefully.

“I thought you said..?” Osgood finished her coffee with a gulp and left the mug on the bedside table. 

“If I started kissing you in bed again I wouldn’t be able to stop until breakfast tomorrow” Kate admitted with a blush. “But I think we should be able to control ourselves in the shower and if not, you can always turn the cold water on me”

“Come on” Osgood gave up arguing and jumped out of bed, dragging a grinning blonde with her. 

Thirty minutes later Osgood was standing in her hallway looking at the bathroom. “Crikey, it’s just as well it’s a wet-room” she shook her head at the puddles of water on the floor and canted her head to the side to figure out which one of them had managed to get water on the top window pane.

Kate looked over her shoulder and winced. “Sorry, although most of that was you” she ducked away as Osgood flicked her towel at her, laughing and throwing her own towel over the radiator in the hallway. She fastened the buttons on her clean shirt and pulled her jacket on, checking the cuffs were sitting comfortably. When she turned around she was faced with Osgood staring at her. “What?” she looked down.

“Why were you carrying a gun yesterday?” Osgood had been reminded by Kate fiddling with her shirt sleeves. “You don’t normally and why wasn’t it even loaded?” she crossed her arms.

Kate looked sheepishly at her shoes, rather pleased that she’d remembered to pack the orange heels as they went quite well with this suit. Blowing out a breath she looked up and decided honesty was the best policy, even if her girlfriend was going to be annoyed with her. “The Colonel had brought my weapon with him since I didn’t have time to get one through a commercial airport myself” she explained and walked towards the living room to gather her bag and laptop. “I didn’t need it when we were in Aberdeen but I remembered I had it when we got back to the office and I put it on rather than carry it through the Tower” she checked that Osgood was still listening. “I was going to return it to the armoury after the sitrep and I had the magazine in my trouser pocket”

“So why were you showing it off and waving it around in front of my team to scare the bejesus out of them?” Osgood remembered how annoyed she’d been the day before.

“Honestly, I wanted to scare rock boy, I didn’t really think twice about it and I’m sorry” Kate was genuinely sorry, she hadn’t meant to intimidate the scientists who were supporting Osgood. “I’ll apologise to your team when we get in, but if I hadn’t used it to keep him quiet I would have been very tempted to punch his lights out” she watched Osgood try to follow her logic. “I know you were handling it and I wouldn’t have interfered but when he shouted at you and called you stupid I’m afraid I saw red”

“It doesn’t bother me all that much that you carry a gun and know how to use it” Osgood slid her coat on as she worked through what she was trying to say. “A tiny part of me was even quite enjoying you going all Law and Order on him” she blushed and missed Kate’s bewildered look. “I’m fairly sure the Colonel would be very annoyed if he knew it was unloaded though?”

“He would, quite rightly and I dread to think what dad would have said” Kate shrugged into her raincoat. “I’d unloaded it before I left my office and was planning on going to the armoury straight after your report but I should know better”

“I’d say it would be our secret but you know that everyone at the Tower will be talking about what happened” Osgood stepped out in the greyish morning, buttoning her coat up a little more as the cold wind caught her breath. Taking a hit from her inhaler she walked beside Kate for several moments before being confident enough to talk again. “Although if we turn up together again and you continue to look like you’ve spent the night ravaging me they’ll pretty soon stop talking about the butch gun thing”

“Osgood!” Kate looked astounded. “I don’t look like that, do I?” she looked genuinely worried and ran her hand through her hair. “Anyway I’m not butch” she muttered almost too quietly for the brunette to hear but the squeeze on her fingers told her she’d not been quiet enough.

They walked into the Tower together, not holding hands but closer than they’d normally be. Kate nodded at the guard who held the door for them and walked with Osgood to her lab. Osgood’s team were milling around the coffee machine gossiping and getting ready to start their day when Osgood and Kate walked in. Dead silence descended and Osgood rolled her eyes as she hung her coat up and dumped her bag on her workbench. Turning to look at an embarrassed Kate she crossed her arms and gave her the universal ‘get on with it’ glare. Kate coughed and looked at the floor briefly. “It’s been brought to my attention that I may have overreacted a little yesterday” she looked at the surprised faces and sighed when she heard Osgood clear her throat. “Perhaps more than a little” she acknowledged. “The gun may have been a precautionary step too far, however, I had my reasons” she risked a glance at Osgood, who looked a little happier with the explanation so far. “I’m sorry that we allowed someone like that to get through our screening, we’ll work on tightening that up” she made eye contact with everyone and saw most were reassured if a little confused. “Anyway, I’m sorry for frightening anyone”

“Thank you Dr. Stewart” Osgood winked at her when it was clear that nobody knew quite what to say. An apology from a Lethbridge-Stewart was unusual enough but a Lethbridge-Stewart who looked and sounded quite so unsure of themselves was unheard of. “Let’s get on, shall we?” she directed at the team and walked Kate to the door. “Very smooth darling” she whispered.

“Oh shut up” Kate raised an eyebrow at the smirk on the younger woman’s face before turning and striding to her office.

The rest of the week passed without any major alerts and everyone managed to get caught up on paperwork and the usual day to day operations involved in running an international covert alien monitoring and earth defense organisation. Kate was forlornly scrolling through emails, knowing that there wasn’t anything urgent and dreading the thought of having to actually deal with several emails that she’d flagged weeks ago in the hopes that an alien invasion would distract her. She was about to open the oldest when her phone rang and she listened to the report from Finland with a sinking feeling, dialing the scientific expert she knew needed to head to the site as soon as possible. “We’ve just had a call from Finland, they think there’s movement on the latest probe,” she said quickly. “I think you probably need to head back over there” she answered Osgood’s questions and agreed that the UNIT jet would be useful as it seemed that time was of the essence. “I’m sorry love,” she said quietly at the end of the call. “I know, but I’m still sorry that you need to go away at such short notice”

Osgood shook her head as she hung up the phone, finishing her list of the equipment she needed to take with her this time. “McGillop, can you sort this out for me, I need to head back to Finland this afternoon” she handed him the list and sorted out what she could leave until she returned and what needed to be dealt with in her absence. After an hour she realised she was getting hungry and debated with herself for a few seconds before picking up the phone again. “Hi” she knew she was smiling as she heard Kate answer the phone gruffly, obviously not checking caller display. “I’m going to grab a sandwich, did you want me to bring you something back?” Osgood listened to Kate, who obviously had someone in her office with her. “I’ll drop it off in twenty minutes,” she said and headed out to the nearest cafe.

Kate cursed her own jinxing of a relatively quiet week as she hung up on the Minister who was insistent that ‘something’ needed to be done about the Aberdeen situation. She wasn’t even sure that there was a situation but knew she’d have to visit the site herself again before managing the government’s expectations of what they could realistically do about a half-buried UFO under the North Sea. Colonel Shindi had been in her office when the call had come in, just after Osgood’s. He’d tried to explain that the military didn’t consider this an active threat but had given up when the grocer turned Minister had decided that he would settle for nothing less than the head of UNIT onsite again. “Come in” Kate shouted as they drew to a close and agreed that the Minister was an idiot but nothing could be done about that either. “Hello” she smiled as Osgood poked her head around the door.

“Sorry to disturb, just wanted to drop off your lunch” Osgood left the brown bag on the end of Kate’s desk and nodded at the Colonel.

“Osgood, I was just leaving” Shindi stood and moved towards the door.

“No, I wasn’t staying” Osgood was embarrassed about interrupting them. 

“Thanks, Vikram, I’ll let you know when I can get away, can you keep the helicopter on standby for now?” Kate asked and smiled as he nodded in agreement. “Os, stay,” she said quietly as the colonel gently closed her office door.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to….” Osgood pointed at the recently closed door. 

“You didn’t, we were just bemoaning the latest government idiot to be nominally in charge of us” Kate assured her. “Please, have lunch with me, since we’re missing dinner?”

“OK” Osgood sat in the visitor’s chair and opened her own sandwich. “Where are you going?” she asked and bit into the well-filled tuna salad sandwich.

“Aberdeen” Kate sighed and munched on her chicken salad sandwich. “I completely understand why the Doctor calls us pudding brains sometimes, usually just after I talk to the Minister” she smiled.

“This one is particularly puddingy” Osgood agreed. “I spoke to the team in Finland and I’m hoping it’s just a recalibration that’s required on the sensor matrix” she drank some water. “So hopefully I should only be gone a day or two at the most”

“Me too” Kate wiped the crumbs from the paperwork on her desk. “Maybe we can go back to that place we had our first date on Friday night?” she sat back in her chair and brushed some crumbs from her trousers as she crossed her legs. “We haven’t really gone out much recently” 

Osgood smiled and remembered why they’d barely left whichever house they’d ended up at after work each night for the last two weeks. “I suppose we can go out one night” she blushed.

“Tip top” Kate smiled softly, she loved the brunettes smile, especially when it was combined with a blush as it was now. “When are you leaving?” she cleared her throat in an attempt to return to business.

Osgood glanced at her watch and winced “An hour, I should really hand over the experiments I need to be monitored while I’m away” she scrunched up the wrapping from her sandwich and prepared to leave the office.

Kate glanced at her calendar on the screen beside her and decided she had time, standing from behind her desk and walking towards Osgood. “I’ll miss you,” she said quietly and reached out one hand to hold Osgood’s. 

“Me too” Osgood held onto the hand and pulled her closer. “If you have time we could call each other later?” she suggested shyly.

“Around bedtime?” Kate grinned and leaned forward. Osgood took the hint and they kissed slowly, Kate’s hand wrapping around her waist and holding the brunette against her. “Be careful” she sighed as she pulled back, they both had work to do before they could leave.

“You too” Osgood licked her lips and let Kate’s hand go. “Talk later,” she said quietly as she left the office, heading back to her lab.

***************************************

Osgood held her inhaler firmly in her hand, she didn’t enjoy flying at the best of times but the UNIT jet being flung around by turbulence was bringing back too many bad memories for her to cope with. “Uh” she grunted as the plane dropped a few hundred feet again and her stomach rose to rest somewhere just below her ears.

Josh leaned across and put his hand on her’s “It’ll be OK, we’ll be out of this soon” 

She gritted her teeth and concentrated on not throwing up as well as breathing. “I hate flying,” she said under her breath and groaned as the roller coaster movements slammed her back into her seat. “I really hate flying”. Ten minutes later they were out of the storm and the sun was streaming through the window again. “Sorry,” she said as she returned from the toilet.

Josh put down his book, looking closely and relieved to see she had some colour back in her face. “It’s perfectly understandable Os” he saw her wince. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually that wasn’t an ‘oh go we’re all going to die in a plane crash’ face” Osgood returned to her seat, fastening the belt and tightening it before turning to look at him. “It’s just that Kate’s the only one who calls me Os” she smiled. “It sounds kind of strange if anyone else uses it now”

“Ah, well I promise I won’t ever call you that again if you promise not to tell Kate or the Colonel I did?” Josh looked uneasy but refused to give up any more information to the brunette. Thankfully they landed shortly afterward and the rest of the day was taken up with transporting Osgood and her equipment to the site.

***************************************

“So what did you threaten Josh with?” Osgood settled into bed and sipped her hot chocolate. “And don’t even think of distracting me with sexy talk Dr. Stewart” she smiled and enjoyed the heat that spread through her, although she wasn’t sure how much was down to the hot drink and how much was just hearing Kate’s voice.

“I don’t know what you mean Professor Osgood” Kate shrugged as the colonel briefly looked across at her from the driver’s seat. “And I’m sure the Colonel won’t have any idea either” she winked at him and he relaxed, returning his attention to the road.

“So you’re with Vikram and you’ve both threatened Josh with something terrible, the poor boy’s keeping a metre distance between us like you’ve put out a restraining order” she sipped her drink before a terrible thought occurred to her “You haven’t put a restraining order on him, have you?”

“No” Kate laughed and settled back in the passenger seat. “Although that’s a damn good idea” 

“For a super sexy, smart, gorgeous woman, you’re a bit slow on the uptake” Osgood put her empty mug on the table and turned out the light. “I’ve spent just over a month trying to prove to you that I’m very, very, very gay” she snuggled under the cover and turned on her side, grinning as Kate’s breathing increased. “Perhaps I need to try harder if you still think Josh is a threat?”

“No” Kate cleared her throat and hoped it was dark enough in the car that Vikram wouldn’t see her blush. “I think I got that message loud and clear some time ago” she assured the smug woman and vowed to get her back for teasing her when she couldn’t respond in kind.

“So I don’t need to try harder?” Osgood laughed, she knew she was being mean.

“Well I didn’t say that exactly” Kate was trying to sound professional, she really was. “Listen, the Colonel has just turned on the aircon and it’s 4 degrees outside so I should probably talk to you later” she had her head in her hand, trying not to see the smirk that the colonel wasn’t even trying to disguise.

“Sorry love” Osgood yawned. “I’m about to crash, you can get me back later and say hi to Vikram from me”

“Goodnight Os,” Kate said softly and hung up the call. “Not a word,” she said into the silence of the car, crossing her arms and trying to stop the soppy smile she knew was coming.

“Ma’am” the colonel signaled to turn into the hotel car park.

*****************************************

The dock wasn’t any more picturesque the next morning as they waited to board the submarine again. “Deja vu” she sighed as she climbed down the ladder. “Let’s get this over and done with, shall we?” Kate sighed and leaned against a bulkhead as they pulled away from the dock and submerged. 

An hour later they were circling the conspicuously rust free hunk of metal again. “At least it hasn’t moved” Shindi tried to be positive.

“According to the science team back at base it’s been down here around 60 years so it’s no great surprise that it hasn’t moved in a few weeks,” she said dryly. “Can we drop the sonar beacons and get back to dry land please?”

*******************************************

Kate lay on top of the bed covers, picking at her pasta and listening to Osgood tell her about the progress she’d made on the Finnish probe. “So you think it’s sending out some kind of coded message every month?” she kicked her shoes off and pulled her sweater up “Give me a second Os,” she asked and put the phone down as she took the sweater off and threw it towards her case. “Sorry, blooming heating was on full blast when I got to the room”

Osgood tried to ignore the visuals she was getting in 3D as she imagined Kate undressing. “Well I think so” she dropped her glasses beside her on the bed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It was a high energy burst of radio waves that only lasted for a few seconds so it seems likely it was a package of information being pinged out” she stretched her neck. “We’ve captured most of it and should be able to decipher some of the message to at least see whether it’s hostile”

“And where it was sent?” Kate checked that they were covering all of the bases, although she knew that Osgood would probably be doing this already.

“Yep, Pharos 2 piggybacked on the signal and followed its trajectory for long enough to get us a pretty good fix on which direction it went” Osgood yawned. “Sorry, we’ll probably need a day or two to figure out what’s out there”

“Can you do that from the Tower?” Kate asked. “I’m heading back there tomorrow, I’m not going down there again in that old tin can” she heard Osgood laugh. “It never fails, every time I sign off on Swordfish 3 going into dry dock we need to be underwater somewhere”

“You should tell the Minister we need a Swordfish 4 to permanently monitor the North Sea” Osgood joked, expecting to hear Kate laugh. On silence from the other end of the phone, she knew what was going through Kate’s mind. “Oh crikey, you’re going to ask for another Swordfish, aren’t you?”

“Well if they expect us to react to alien artifacts underwater then it seems only reasonable and we can base it at Cardiff Castle to cover the Irish Sea,” Kate thought through the paperwork she’d need to pull together. “And it’s not as if the Royal Navy love us pinching their subs and then wiping the crew’s memories, causes quite a lot of frostiness at the interagency Christmas parties.” Kate sighed.

Osgood laughed “It does sound a bit iffy, from their point of view I mean”

“I know but it’s not like we have a choice and they only make me go to the party now so that they can serve me cold mulled wine and crumbled mince pies” Kate pouted, even if Osgood couldn’t see.

“You’re pouting, aren’t you?” Osgood laughed. “If it helps to take your mind off the mince pies you could always get into bed and tell what you’re wearing?”

“Well I did pack some pajamas but it’s so bloody hot I think I’ll leave them in the case” Kate checked the time. “You need to get some sleep darling, will you come back to the Tower tomorrow?”

“I suppose so” Osgood sighed, not even the image of Kate sleeping naked helped the sudden anxiety she experienced. “We had some really bad turbulence on the way over” she admitted quietly.

“Oh Os, I’m sorry, would you prefer flying commercial to come back, the bigger planes are better at dealing with….” Kate trailed off, neither of them particularly had much luck with bigger planes either.

“No, we’ll leave first thing in the morning and Josh has promised to explain to the pilot that we need as smooth a journey as possible” Osgood smiled at the memory of their conversation. “Apparently he’s going to hint that some of the samples we’re taking back are volatile if shaken too much”

“Well done Captain Carter” Kate muttered. “Oh that reminds me, your call last night when I was in the car with the Colonel”

Osgood laughed and snuggled under the covers, ready for her ‘punishment’. “I don’t know what you’re talking about darling”

“Don’t you darling me, young woman” Kate tried to sound stern. “I was blushing like a schoolgirl and Vikram put the aircon on to dissipate the excess heat, or that’s what he said with an almost straight face”

Osgood spluttered. “I’m sorry, but that is funny” she continued to laugh as Kate sighed. “Come on, he won’t tell anyone, will he?” she tried to put a positive spin on the incident.

“He’d bloody better not, I have plenty of dirt on him if he starts that nonsense” Kate smirked and finished dropping her trousers over the side of the bed, having successfully removed her shirt and bra without Osgood noticing. “I did ask him what he’d said to Carter though, seems it was more of a bit of ‘fatherly’ advice about Josh teasing you and the likelihood of him being posted to cleaning out the alien holding cells under the Tower the next time the Centauri pay a visit”

“He didn’t?” Osgood was slightly in awe of the inventive thought that had gone into that threat. “No wonder Josh has started several sentences and stopped them halfway through” Osgood almost felt sorry for her cheeky friend. “And what did you threaten him with my love?” Osgood wasn’t going to let Kate off the hook.

“Ah” Kate rubbed the back of her neck as she sat propped up in bed, staring down at her naked body and wondering what the brunette found to love. She didn’t doubt she did love her appearance, she’d been told and shown often enough. “I believe I may have deployed a level 1 glare in his direction when he leaned over to talk to you on the flight home from here a few weeks ago” she did feel embarrassed about that, she’d never been jealous in previous relationships. “I’m not really sure why, as you pointed out in great detail, I have absolutely nothing to worry about”

“Maybe it’s because of that silly kiss?” Osgood ventured, she wanted to help Kate work through this so that she wasn’t forced to glare at one of the top members of her team. 

“Maybe” Kate admitted. “But I’m not 5 years old and being jealous of someone kissing you behind the metaphorical bike sheds before we were together is unbecoming in an adult, especially at my age”

“You’re only as young as the woman you feel” Osgood trotted out one of her favourite sayings when Kate became worried about their age difference. 

“Well sadly tonight that means I’m definitely 51” Kate ran her hand up her thigh to rest on her stomach. “I promise to behave better, I’m sure Josh has learned his lesson”

“He’ll be fine, he’s practically Teflon coated remember” Osgood valiantly tried to fight off the yawn she could feel building.

“Os, that’s mean” Kate put off the bedside light and slid further down the bed. “I’m tired, the recycled air on that tin can must be low on oxygen”

“It’s more likely not scrubbing out enough carbon dioxide” Osgood suggested. “Are you in bed?”

“Lying on top of the covers, practically naked, it really is hot in the room” Kate sighed. “How can I miss sleeping with you practically every night when we’ve only been together a few weeks?” her voice was quiet.

Osgood thought about how she was feeling. “For me, it’s because I’ve never been with someone like you before, never had the emotional connection immediately, and I miss the safety and warmth I get when you put your arms around me” she said softly, her eyes closed to hear every sound coming from Kate’s end of the conversation. “Kate?” she hadn’t had a reply and was worried that the blonde had fallen asleep.

Kate was wiping the tears that ran down her cheeks, every ounce of self-control instead deployed to keep her breathing and voice relatively steady. “And then you go and say something like that and I want to drive the bloody submarine to you tonight”

Osgood smiled feeling heat spread all over her body as if Kate was beside her in bed. “You’d be here faster if you got Peregrine 2 ordered as well”

“Ossssss” Kate groaned at the huskiness in her girlfriend’s voice. “Please tell me you’ll be back tomorrow”

“And miss the phone sex?” unfortunately the previously squashed yawn made a reappearance, slightly lessening the saucy minx tone that Osgood had been going for.

“Go to sleep darling, I’ll see you when you get back and we can catch up properly” Kate could feel her fingers twitching with the need to feel Osgood’s skin. “We’ll definitely go out for dinner on Friday though”

“Night” Osgood managed and hung up after Kate’s reply.

********************************

Osgood was working in her own lab by lunchtime the next day, the additional sensors installed to capture any more radio bursts from the probe. She was checking the experiments she’d left running and catching up on what her team was working on. She knew that Kate had arrived back a couple of hours ago but also that she’d be swamped with meetings in Westminster for the rest of the day. “Let’s see if that reacts any better with an oxygen-rich mixture?” she suggested, “But make sure you have the fire suppressant system switched on, we don’t want another level 4 incident” she watched as two of her colleagues looked sheepish and knew that nobody would forget that precaution again anytime soon. A couple of hours later she finally gave in to admitting to herself that she hadn’t slept particularly well the previous night and decided on an early finish for once. Everyone had work to be getting on with and the data she’d retrieved on the Finland alien signal was being chewed and spat back out by the largest computer they had, even then she didn’t expect results until the next day. “Malcolm?” she caught his attention as he walked past her desk. “I’m going to knock off soon, feeling a bit rubbish after that hotel gave me a smoking room”

“Sure, anything you need me to keep an eye on for you?” the older man stood with his hands in his lab coat pockets. “Do you have your inhalers?” he knew she would have visited their infirmary if it required any further medication.

“Yep” Osgood held up two, one from each trouser pocket and took a hit from one of them. “I’ll be fine after a decent night’s sleep I think” she assured him. “If you need me for anything I’ll have my phone with me and I’ll check how the supercomputer is getting on later tonight”

“OK” Malcolm nodded and then had another thought which he wasn’t sure he wanted to voice. “Em, Osgood?” he looked at the floor and scuffed the toe of his shoe.

“Yes, what’s up?” she asked, surprised to see him looking worried.

“Em, well it’s just, I mean it’s none of my business or anything but I just wondered……” he stopped, wondering if he could end the sentence with something more innocuous that what he was about to ask.

“What’s wrong?” Osgood came around the desk and stood in front of him, “Just ask me, worst thing I’ll do is switch you to the cheap teabags for a week” she smiled gently to try to calm his nerves.

“OK” he nodded, having made the decision to just ask her and deal with the consequences later. “Did you tell Ms. Stewart you were feeling a bit rubbish or did you want us to keep it a secret?”

Osgood opened her mouth to ask what he meant before closing it again with an audible snap. “Ah” she looked around to see if their conversation was being overheard. “So you know then?” 

“Maybe” he wasn’t sure that he wanted to speculate on something that really was none of his business. He was worried about Osgood though and she was his friend, if Kate needed to know she was poorly then he would tell her. “What do you think I know?” he countered and grinned.

“Doofus” she pushed his shoulder and grinned back at him. “Yes OK, she’s my girlfriend, did you win something in the betting pool?” He looked genuinely cross now though, which was unexpected, she had a sinking feeling. “It’s not a problem for you, that we’re together, is it?” 

“Of course not!” He frowned. “But you don’t really think we’d bet on your love life, do you?” now he looked disappointed.

“I’m sorry” she reached out and touched his shoulder, “I was only joking, I know you have my back and I appreciate it”

“Good” he nodded and the seriousness cleared from his face. “Wow though, you and Kate?” he grinned. “That explains the Olivia Benson thing she pulled the other day”

“I know, right!” Osgood laughed and had the decency to look embarrassed. “She’s promised not to threaten to shoot anyone for being mean to me again”

“Good to know, because you are near the bottom of the league table this week so you may end up with the cheap coffee” he laughed as she groaned. Their fantasy football league was a source of much amusement to their team. In order to make it a little fairer to the gender mix of the team, they chose players from the women’s super league in England and this had fired a new obsession in the scientists in watching football to hone their skills in choosing their teams.

“And on that note” Osgood hung up her lab coat and shrugged into her duffel coat. “I’m going home, via the boss’s office to let her know” 

“Feel better soon” he held the door for her and returned to the lab, keen to disseminate the information amongst the chosen few in the team who could be relied upon to be discrete.

Kate had returned from a less stressful meeting with the Minister than she’d expected. Apparently, her suggestion that more resources were required to fund the necessary equipment upgrades to meet his expectations was met with less enthusiasm that even she’d expected. It was a pleasant surprise, however, when the General in Geneva had dialed into the meeting and had been in full agreement, offering to get matched funding from other governments if the Minister agreed to pay their share. “Hello, you,” she said softly as Osgood knocked on the frame of her open office door. “You OK?” Kate asked as she saw her slightly pale face and an inhaler in her hand. She stood and walked around her desk, motioning Osgood into her office and closing the door. 

“Meh” Osgood shrugged. “Smoking room in the hotel last night and the flight home this morning was a little lumpy again” she sat down on the visitor’s chair. “Everything is taken care of in the lab and we won’t have any meaningful results until tomorrow so I thought I’d head home and take some stronger meds then get an early night”

Kate looked worried and crouched down in front of her, her hands resting lightly on the brunette's knees. “I can drive you home” she offered, knowing that the paperwork on her desk would still be there in the morning.

“No, it’s OK, you’re busy” Osgood protested feebly.

“Right now I’m busy taking my girlfriend home and making sure she’s OK” Kate stood and winced slightly as her back protested. “Really it’s my job as head of scientific research to make sure all of our scientists are looked after and able to work to their best abilities” she winked at the younger woman as she packed a few reports into her bag and slid in her laptop. “John?” she shouted and her assistant poked his head around the door. “Can you get me a car to the side door in 5 minutes, I’ll be heading home a little early to catch up on some paperwork” she barely heard the expected ‘ma’am’ response as she listened for Osgood’s breathing patterns.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have to leave work too” Osgood hadn’t expected Kate to leave with her. “Our relationship shouldn’t be affecting your performance” she struggled to get the sentence out before taking another puff on her inhaler.

“If you’re sick at home I’ll be bloody useless sitting in here worried about you” Kate wasn’t taking no for an answer and slid her coat on before shouldering her bag. “Come on, let’s get you somewhere warm and cosy”

The car was waiting for them and she held the door for Osgood herself, handing their bags off to the driver who stowed them in the boot. “Thanks” Osgood muttered as she was handed into the car and her seatbelt was passed to her. Kate walked around the back of the car and asked the driver to take them via Osgood’s flat to let her collect the extra medication she’d need. He nodded and held her door open for her. She slid into the back seat next to Osgood who held out the end of her seatbelt. “Could you just do this for me?” she asked quietly, trying to avoid twisting around. “Thanks,” she said as Kate buckled her in and held onto her hand. Osgood laid her head back and closed her eyes.

Kate nodded to the diver when he pulled into her driveway. “Thank you, that was quick” she assured him as she quietly got out and shouldered both bags. “Let me get her” she suggested and he stood back, scanning the street to give his boss some privacy to wake up the young scientist. “Os, come on, wake up love, we’re here” she shook her shoulder gently and smiled at the groan as the younger woman woke up. “Come on, hot bath and then bed for you” Kate saw the look of gratitude on Osgood’s pale face. Kate suddenly felt the bags being lifted from her shoulder and the driver held his hand out for her door key. “Just dump them in the hallway” she smiled at him and used both of her hands to help Osgood stand. “Come on, before I ravage you in the street” she whispered in her girlfriend’s ear, glad to hear the quiet chuckle that meant Osgood still had a sense of humour.

“Ma’am” the driver waited until they were both inside the house before handing Kate her keys and closing the front door. He had been pulled aside by the Colonel just before he’d left and updated on the latest situation, Shindi wasn’t one for gossip but he wanted his team well briefed so that they never looked surprised around Kate. Even something as simple as treating this as a normal home delivery would go a long way to continuing the increase in trust between the military and scientific teams within UNIT.


	8. London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're getting there, sorry I've slowed down, I knew there was a reason I normally finish before I post anything.

“I’m sorry” Osgood mumbled as she was bundled up in bed. 

“Stop apologising” Kate sighed. She’d said it numerous times already while she’d made tea, run a bath, helped her get dried after it and now helped her into bed. “You’re sick, it’s OK to need a little help every now and then”

“I’ll be fine after a decent sleep” Osgood assured her, although the reassurance was as much for her benefit as Kate’s. “Will you….” she stopped as Kate started to strip off her own clothes. “What are you doing?” Osgood blinked at her, she’d taken her glasses off but was still sure she could see her well enough.

“I’m changing into some sweats” Kate hung up her trousers and shirt, pulling on some leggings instead. “No video calls this afternoon” she smiled as her head appeared through the neck of a baggy sweatshirt. “What were you going to ask me?” she sat down on the bed, brushing hair off of Osgood’s forehead.

Osgood closed her eyes, the soft fingers running through her hair was doing more to relax her than the medication she’d taken. “Will you sleep with me tonight?” she remembered what she had been going to ask.

“Of course” Kate assured her. “I’ll be downstairs this afternoon but if you need anything just give me a shout”

“Good, I was worried you’d sleep on the sofa or something” Osgood mumbled, embarrassed to be this needy. She’d had much nicer plans for their evening but she knew she’d need to be able to breathe sensibly before she could put them in motion.

Several hours later Kate was engrossed in a paper she was reviewing for a scientific journal. She didn’t get a chance to flex her scientific muscles much these days and was enjoying having the peace and quiet to concentrate. She didn’t notice Osgood until she placed a mug of tea in front of her. “Hi,” she said quietly, marking her place with a chocolate biscuit wrapper and patting the seat beside her. “How are you feeling?”

“Better thanks” Osgood sank onto the sofa, cradling her own mug of coffee and smiling as Kate lifted her arm to let her snuggle into her. “Everything OK?” she squinted to read the cover of the paper.

“I was just catching up on that peer review I kept promising myself I’d get to” Kate took a sip of her tea. “Hungry, I can make you some dinner?” she offered.

“Nope, just need cuddles” Osgood held onto her arm to stop her from getting up.

“Ah well that I can definitely do” Kate smiled softly, her eyes narrowing as she checked her girlfriend’s breathing.

“I’m fine” Osgood squeezed her wrist and leaned up to kiss her. “See, breathing is fine” she whispered after proving it to her.

Kate sighed happily and wriggled to give Osgood more room to stretch out. “It’s still early, did you want to watch some TV?”

“I should really check on the analysis of the radio burst” Osgood sighed, she was comfortable and warm and couldn’t be bothered to move.

“No need” Kate kissed the top of her head. “McGillop phoned for you earlier and said it definitely wouldn’t be ready until the morning”

“He did?” she looked up in confusion. “How did he know I was here?”

Kate grinned “I called him after you fell asleep, I knew he’d be worried about you”

“OK” the brunette snuggled in again. “Maybe we could watch a movie or something?”

“I have a few Carry On DVDs or we could find one of the superhero ones you recommended while you seduced me in the back of the truck” Kate held her breath, waiting for the reaction.

“I was making sure you didn’t throw up!” Osgood protested, turning in Kate’s arms to face her. “If I’d been seducing you there wouldn’t have been that many soldiers around” she saw the crinkle around Kate’s eyes followed by the laughter, realising she was being teased. 

******************************************

Osgood was sitting in her office the next morning, feeling a lot better and working her way through emails and phone messages from the previous afternoon. McGillop popped his head around the door “It’s starting to come through.” She nodded and pinged Kate a message before heading towards the larger room where the team were gathering.

Kate nodded as Shindi joined her on her way to the lab. “Shouldn’t be long now” she said and thanked him quietly when he held the door for her. “How much have we got?” she asked the room at large, confident that someone would give her a sensible answer.

“About 30% of the way there ma’am” one of the communications technicians confirmed for her and they all stared at the large screen mounted on one wall where the radio burst message was being decoded and translated one word at a time. “The phrasing is causing some difficulty, the words aren’t necessarily in the correct order” the same technician nervously reported.

“There’s a Morecambe & Wise sketch about that” Kate murmured under her breath and heard the colonel cough to conceal his laughter. She watched the words appear and then move around the screen as the computer used all of the languages in the database to get as close to the meaning being conveyed by the probe. “How much longer before it’s all……” she trailed off as the first couple of sentences remained static. “Prince / craft / confirmed / intact / stasis / failure / no / survivor / no / war / damage….” she read out, and waited for more of the message to be translated. “Primary / order / confirmed…..” she huffed as the translation slowed down. “Can we speed this up a bit, surely the last few words are identifiable if we have this much?”

“It’s not the words themselves, it’s the syntax” Osgood answered instead of the technician, who swallowed and concentrated on not looking too relieved. “There seems to be something a little strange about it for this part” she muttered to herself and sat at a terminal to scan the lines of code that were running in the background.

Kate watched her work and kept an eye on the flickering cursor on the screen. Blank spaces were inserted between words here and there but the basic message hadn’t changed in several minutes. “Self / destruct….” She felt the tension in the room double and licked her lips. “OK, Colonel can we get the jets in the air please and let’s make sure the Finnish team have enough of the area cleared before we fire the missiles” she ordered in a quiet voice and heard several chairs scrape the floor as soldiers rose to carry out her orders.

“Wait!” Osgood shouted above them all “Not yet” she scowled at the screen in front of her and didn’t realise the effect her words had on everyone else in the room.

“Osgood?” Kate held a hand up to keep the Colonel from interrupting her. “We don’t have time”

“Just one minute,” she said and belatedly realised the silence around her. “Ma’am, sorry, but I don’t think it means quite what it says” 

“Evidence or hunch?” Kate asked walking towards her screen to see what Osgood was looking at. “Show me” she leaned over her, one hand on the desk and one on the back of Osgood’s chair.

“Here and here” the brunette pointed at two lines of code that kept switching back and forward between two formulas.

“We can’t wait for this to be perfect” Kate said, trying to work out what Osgood was looking at.

“Not perfect” Osgood shook her head “Just wait” she typed in some commands and scribbled down some numbers on a piece of scrap paper lying beside the keyboard. “Now,” she said several seconds later and everyone looked back at the large screen.

“Primary / order / confirmed / no / hostile / intent / self / destruct / disengaged” Kate read out, looking down at Osgood to confirm that the message translation was complete.

“It’s as good as we’re going to get,” she said and looked around at the scientists and soldiers who were looking uncomfortable. “Sorry ma’am” she replayed the last few minutes in her head and realised that countermanding her boss in the middle of a crisis was not the smartest thing she could have done.

“You were right” Kate looked at the Colonel “Stand down the jets and let Finland know that we’ll continue to monitor for another two months before clearing the area”

“Ma’am” the Colonel nodded and walked out of the room, the other soldiers following him.

“Good work everyone” Kate was distracted but remembered the team who had worked hard to get them this much information. She walked back to her office, deep inside her own head trying to calculate how close they had come to having to launch missiles that close to the Russian border. She took a deep breath and rolled her neck to release some of the tension before calling the Minister with the good news, she’d leave out the bit about almost bombing an ally.

Osgood helped the team clear up the last few words missing from the translation and found herself next to McGillop at the coffee machine sometime later. “Close call, huh?” he was fairly sure his heart rate would return to normal in a week or two.

“We’ve had worse” Osgood shrugged. “Not launching missiles is a win” she smiled but he could tell her heart wasn’t really in it.

“You going to be OK?” he asked quietly, glancing around to see who else was nearby.

“Mmmmm” Osgood looked distracted before looking at him “Why wouldn’t I?” she was confused by his question.

“Well you just countermanded the boss lady” he smiled at her grimace. “And let’s not forget she’s also…” he trailed off, not entirely sure what Kate was to Osgood officially.

“Crikey” Osgood blinked several times. “I didn’t even think” she wiped her hand over her face, blowing out a breath.

“Flowers and chocolates” McGillop confidently stated and grinned at her look of confusion. “When I upset the wife I always get her flowers and chocolates” he explained and then realised how that sounded. “I didn’t mean wife like that, not that you and Ms. Stewart” he looked worried and unsure of how to finish the waffle he’d started.

Osgood shook her head. “I know, but did you ever stop your wife launching missiles in front of all of her soldiers?” they both looked at each other for several seconds.

“You’re on your own” he patted her shoulder and walked off, wincing as he heard the groan behind him. UNIT might be all about not leaving a man behind but he wasn’t about to get in the middle of the conversation Osgood was about to have.

Kate seemed to be staring into space when Osgood reached her office door. She’d waited an hour before braving the lion’s den. Kate waved her in and pointed at her ear, the universal sign for letting Osgood know that she was on a call. “Yes sir” Kate sounded very official and Osgood sat down in a visitor’s chair to await her fate. “Of course sir” Kate waved one hand in the air to explain that the other end of the call was now waffling and Osgood smiled nervously at the humour. “I’ll pass on your comments sir” Kate assured the other person and rolled her eyes as several more minutes passed before the call ended. “Sorry, updating the General in Geneva” she explained. “He wanted me to pass on congratulations to you and your team” she smiled.

“Thank you ma’am,” Osgood said quietly and clasped her hands in front of her nervously.

“Was there something you needed?” Kate asked, not sure why Osgood looked so worried and not prepared to wait any longer for her to start on her own.

“I need to make an apology ma’am” Osgood cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for countermanding your orders in the lab” she finally looked up.

“You were right to take the time” Kate replied softly. “Science leads” she reminded her.

Osgood looked at the floor again, licking her suddenly dry lips. “But I shouted and I don’t want the Colonel to think…” she ran out of words.

“I spoke to Vikram, he understood that it was an emergency situation,” Kate said softly, glancing at her open office door and listening for anyone being nearby. “The outcome was worth the minor insubordination” she smiled gently but Osgood was still staring at the floor. “Osgood,” she said in a slightly louder voice, getting the young woman to look at her. “You were right”

“He didn’t think?” the brunette started before Kate interrupted her.

“He thought you were doing your job, nothing more or less”

Osgood looked at Kate, holding her gaze for several seconds before nodding to herself. “I’m still sorry for shouting at you”

Kate smiled “I’ve heard you shout louder than that” she winked and watched Osgood blush to the tips of her ears. “Now, we’ve narrowly avoided starting world war three, how about that dinner out tonight?”

**********************************************************************

John held Osgood’s chair as she sat down “Can I get you something to drink?” Osgood asked for the wine they had drunk on their first date and he went off to hang up their coats and get their drinks.

Kate glanced at the menu before closing it and sitting back in her chair, sipping the wine once John had poured it and watching Osgood. “I can’t believe it’s two months since we were here”

“Happy bi-month-aversary” Osgood touched her glass to Kate’s. “If that’s even a thing” she looked confused.

“It is now” the blonde grinned and sipped more wine before putting her glass down and crossing her legs. “How do you think we’re doing?” she sat back.

“The world hasn’t ended” Osgood ran her fingers across her cutlery, realigning it before looking back up to meet amused brown eyes watching her. “For us, everything else is a bonus” she shrugged.

“Well I was hoping for a slightly less nihilistic view of our romantic partnership but you’re factually correct as always” Kate glanced around the restaurant. “I like it here” she decided.

They ordered their food and talked about the research paper that Kate had been reading the day before. When their starters had been cleared away Osgood drank some wine before leaning her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand. “I didn’t mean to be unromantic earlier,” she said quietly. 

Kate looked surprised “It’s fine, I was teasing you” she reached across and held the brunette’s hand. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been, you make me happy” she reassured.

“I don’t even know what kind of chocolates or flowers you like” Osgood still looked worried. 

“You bought me a drawer full of chocolate and I have a garden full of my favourite flowers” Kate was confused. 

“McGillop buys his wife flowers when he messes up” Osgood confessed.

“OK” Kate didn’t move a muscle, waiting to see where this was going.

“I was thinking about that earlier today after I shouted during the briefing” the brunette was really sorry she’d started them down this conversational cul de sac.

“Interrupting your boss with vital information that changes the course of potential armed conflict isn’t something you need to buy flowers to apologise for” Kate was a little annoyed that she was still having to explain this. “Making your girlfriend blush when she’s in the car with a Colonel might be though”

Osgood smiled as she remembered. “I think I’m getting better at separating the two of you in my head”

“The Colonel and me?” Kate sipped from her glass.

“No, my boss and my girlfriend” Osgood sat back and stared at Kate, trying to see the aura of confidence that sat around her and wondering if the Doctor had a setting for that on his screwdriver. “You are beautiful” she smiled at the slight widening of the brown eyes across from her.

“Thank you” Kate accepted the compliment. “So you’re eating with your girlfriend?” Kate confirmed what Osgood was thinking.

“I’m at a romantic restaurant enjoying delicious food and wine with my gorgeous, sexy girlfriend” Osgood corrected her. She’d have said more but the main courses arrived and they ate slowly, savouring the food and the quiet time they were able to have together.

*************************************************************

“Oh now that’s interesting” Osgood was muttering to herself. She double checked the test results before bundling together the papers and heading for Kate’s office.

“Ma’am?” she knocked on the open door and waited for Kate to look up from her desk.

“Osgood?” Kate’s forehead was furrowed and she looked tired. She hadn’t been sleeping particularly well and she needed a distraction from the neverending reports and paperwork.

“I think you’ll want to see these test results” Osgood walked towards her desk on Kate’s nod and carefully laid out the folder, highlighting a couple of paragraphs near the end of the last page.

“This is from the North Sea crash site?” Kate checked and rolled her neck to loosen some of the postural tension she hadn’t even noticed creeping up on her.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood moved around the desk and sat in the visitor’s chair, waiting for Kate to read through the findings.

“That’s interesting” Kate commented at almost the same spot in the results as Osgood had reached earlier. “How many samples did we take?”

“We didn’t want to break up the main structure but we did gather some metallic samples from nearby that looked like they had broken off on impact” Osgood reminded her of the first submarine investigation they had taken part in.

“How do you want to proceed?” Kate sat back and stretched her arms above her head. 

“I’d suggest we get some samples directly from the fuselage and test them further” Osgood had been running through various scenarios in her head. “Although that depends on whether we can persuade the Royal Navy to lend us some deep water divers” she bit her lip.

“Leave that with me, you sort out where they can take the samples from” Kate made a note to contact the admiral most likely to agree to some of his team being seconded and then memory wiped.

“Ma’am” Osgood stood and nodded preparing to return to her lab.

“Os?” Kate ran her hand over her face, trying to wipe the tiredness from her eyes. “What time can you finish tonight?”

“Em” Osgood checked her watch. “Maybe another hour or so, are you OK?” she knew that Kate was having trouble sleeping, a couple of times recently she’d woken to find the bed next to her cold with Kate drinking green tea in the kitchen. 

“Fine, just tired” the blonde tried to look reassuring but she didn’t even have the strength for that. “I think I’ll make this call and then head home”

“I’ll pick up something for dinner unless you want to have a night on your own?” Osgood was worried that Kate was struggling with her constant presence. They had spent every night together when they were both in the same city, alternating between her own flat and Kate’s.

“What….no” Kate looked confused. “Of course I want to see you, I can make something for dinner” she watched Osgood’s carefully neutral face. “Unless you want a night on your own?”

Osgood looked into the corridor before gently closing the door. She walked towards Kate, perching on her desk and facing her. “I don’t….” she stopped, rearranging what she wanted to say in her head before continuing. “I do want to be with you all the time but I don’t want to crowd you” she lifted Kate’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “We both lived on our own for a long time and I’ll understand if you want your own space” Osgood continued, glad that Kate wasn’t interrupting her until she managed to get it all out. “You know I’d tell you if I felt the same way”

Kate worked her way through what Osgood was saying and curled her fingers around her hand, pulling her forward for a quick but gentle kiss. “Move in with me” she whispered when Osgood moved back. 

Osgood was sure she looked as surprised as she felt, and hurried to reassure the blonde. “Let’s make a decision on that when you’re not almost asleep at your desk” 

“I won’t change my mind,” Kate said, leaning back in her chair. “My insomnia isn’t caused by you, I’ve had it before, but it’s always been much worse than it is now” she fiddled with her pen to stop herself from reaching out to touch Osgood again. “I’m not asking you to move in with me on a whim, I’ve been thinking about it since our bi-month-aversary” she smiled but it faded as she watched the brunette fiddle with the hem of her sweater, seeing how nervous she was. “If you’d rather wait I’ll understand”

“There are days when I have to talk myself down from walking into your office and sitting on your knee for the entire day” Osgood admitted shyly. “So the thought of us living together is more than I ever hoped for”

“But?” Kate knew it was coming.

“But” Osgood smiled. “Let’s talk about this at the weekend, after you’ve had a couple of good sleeps”

Kate studied her girlfriend, knowing that she hadn’t said no to her proposal and that she was more than likely to say yes fairly soon. “OK, let me call the admiral and get that moving then I’ll head home” she pulled her chair back towards her desk. “Come over whenever you want later and I’ll make some pasta”

“Sounds like a plan” Osgood nodded and pushed away from the desk, turning as she got to the door. “Text me when you get home,” she asked quietly, heading back to her own lab when Kate nodded her agreement.

“So it turned out they had some deep water divers training about 20 miles south of our site” Kate paused to swallow the last of her dinner. “Admiral Jenkins owed me a favour so they’ll be on site tomorrow morning first thing and we should have the samples with us by the end of the day”

Osgood carried Kate’s plate and empty glass to the kitchen, washing them along with her own. “I hope the initial findings pan out in the larger sample,” she said over her shoulder. 

Kate finished tidying up the rest of the kitchen before placing her hands on Osgood’s hips and leaning forward to kiss the top of her head. “Perhaps I can spend some time in the lab with you, help you run the tests?”

“Of course” Osgood turned around and kissed her. “Now do you want hot chocolate or a glass of wine?”

“Hot chocolate” Kate mumbled in her ear as she kissed her neck.

“Good, get into bed and I’ll bring it up for you” Osgood patted her shoulder, deliberately not reacting to the well-placed kisses. 

Kate pulled back looking confused. “It’s only 8.30” she checked her watch and the wall clock.

“And we’re both tired and could do with an early night” Osgood deployed her ‘don’t argue with me cos you know you’ll lose’ tone of voice that she’d recently discovered. “Hot chocolate, warm bed, catch up on reading” she made shooing motions with her hands and almost laughed when she saw Kate’s pout before the blonde sighed and made her way upstairs.

Kate had stripped out of her sweats from earlier, toying with getting into bed naked but realising that she was probably too tired for what she had in mind and pulling on a baggy t-shirt instead. She was sitting propped up in bed with a textbook resting on her knees when Osgood came in with two mugs of hot chocolate. “Thanks” she smiled as her mug was handed to her and sipped it as Osgood got ready for bed. 

Osgood climbed under the quilt and relaxed with her drink in her hand, lifting the textbook off of Kate’s thighs to see the title. “This looks suspiciously like work” she raised her eyebrows but quirked a smile as well.

“Science isn’t work” Kate shuffled down in the bed a little, getting comfortable. “I’m just reminding myself of the properties of the last marine antibiotic discovered” Kate sipped her drink. “You make delicious hot chocolate” she smiled and leaned across to kiss the chocolate from the brunette’s lips. They kissed for several minutes, not taking it any further and just enjoying their closeness.

Eventually Osgood pulled back a little “Anthracimycin” she read the name from the top of the section that Kate had highlighted. “Mmm that does seem to be similar to what we’ve seen so far” she agreed and returned the book to Kate’s knees. “How long did you nap for when you got home?” 

“An hour or so” Kate shrugged and smiled as Osgood finished her drink and placed her mug on the bedside table. “You are adorable” she whispered and used her right thumb to capture the chocolate from the side of the younger woman’s mouth.

“So do you think you’ll sleep tonight?” Osgood licked Kate’s thumb and shuffled closer to her. “Are you finished your drink?” she checked before taking Kate’s empty mug and placing it beside her own. 

“I should be OK, having you here seems to make the nightmares fade quite quickly” Kate spoke quietly, throwing an extra pillow from behind her to the floor before wriggling herself further down the bed. “It usually only lasts a few days and then they disappear until the next thing that reminds me”

Osgood lay down beside her, pulling the cover higher up to keep them both warm. “Which nightmare is it?” she still struggled with her own nightmares occasionally but not recently.

Kate yawned and wrapped her left arm around Osgood’s waist to pull her closer. “Usual stuff, Boat One and Missy” her eyes were staring over Osgood’s shoulder, seeing the door blow out of the plane and feeling herself falling all over again.

“You Dad catches you every time though, right?” Osgood checked, resting her hand on Kate’s hip as they lay facing each other.

“He does” the blonde whispers, “I just wish we could have talked, I was unconscious for most of the fall and I never got to tell him how proud I was of him”

Osgood was surprised to hear Kate phrase her thoughts that way. “He must have known, you said you were close before he died” her thumb unconsciously stroked Kate’s hip.

“We were but I understand so much more now, I never really understood how lonely it is to be in charge” she swallowed, she was used to talking about her father with people at work but this was more intimate. 

“Was,” Osgood said quietly and waited for Kate’s eyes to meet hers before explaining. “It was lonely for you but we have each other now, doesn’t that help?”

“Of course it does, I meant it when I said I’ve never been happier” Kate leaned forward and shared a slow kiss with the brunette. 

“I know it’s not quite the same, I’m not in charge…..” Osgood started and then broke off, she knew there was more and wanted to give Kate the chance to talk about her fears in the hope that the nightmares would abate for a while.

“I don’t want to share the hardest decisions darling, I never want you to have someone else’s death on your hands,” Kate said quietly.

“I don’t want to make those decisions either but you are the strongest woman I’ve ever known” she lifted her hand from Kate’s hip and carefully tucked an unruly lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “And it would be a privilege if you’d let me be the shoulder you cry on when you have to make the tough calls”

Kate hugged her tightly, resting her forehead on the brunette’s shoulder and absorbing the heat and emotional stability that came from being held in her arms. “I think he’d have liked you very much” she whispered close to Osgood’s ear.

“You think so?” Osgood was surprised by the admission and pulled back a little to see Kate’s face.

“He wouldn’t have understood a word you said at work but you’d have got on like a house on fire outside of work” she smiled fondly at Osgood’s look of disbelief. “You make his daughter happy, he would have loved you for that alone”

“I don’t think so” Osgood pulled back a little and shook her head. “I mean I know I make you happy but he’d have been happier with the gun-toting, ‘take no poop‘ you and that’s definitely not my doing”

“Take no poop?” Kate grinned at Osgood’s unwillingness to swear. “I’m going to get a t-shirt made up with that on it”

“Oh shut up and kiss me” Osgood pushed Kate onto her back and slid on top of her. “No more talk of parents” she winked and pulled Kate’s t-shirt over her head.

*********************************

“Ms. Stewart” Colonel Shindi stood with his hands in his pockets to stop himself from standing at attention or saluting. He didn’t get the opportunity to do very much plain clothes work now that he was stationed at the Tower.

“You’re definitely pulling off the civilian look” Kate winked at him and leaned against the wall, turning to look around them at the people gathered in small groups. “I remember the last time I stood here I was trying to negotiate with aliens who wanted to blow up the planet” she sighed.

“Which time?” he asked and smiled as she rolled her eyes. “Am I the only one who gets twitchy when we haven’t been threatened or invaded in a couple of months?” he rocked back and forward, relaxing a little more as the nearest group of tourists moved away to take more photographs.

“It has been suspiciously quiet, maybe the last lot gave us a bad rating on Trip Advisor?” she waited for his reply but stood a little straighter as she saw the unmarked car pull up nearby. “This must be them”

“Jelly Babies,” the Colonel said quietly to the obviously armed guard who exited from the back door of the car. He ignored the snort of muffled laughter from his boss and kept a relaxed stance, unwilling to start an armed standoff on his own doorstep.

“Dolly Mixtures” the soldier replied, managing to maintain a straight face purely by years of training and an iron will. “Sir” he nodded as he handed over a large briefcase before returning to the car.

“Ma’am?” the Colonel looked at her as they both strode inside.

“The Admiral did promise an unbreakable handover code for the exchange” Kate held the door for the Colonel and followed him inside. “How is the back holding up?” she asked as he moved the case to his other hand.

“Getting stronger every day” he held the next door for her. “Osgood said it will be stronger than before the accident eventually”

“Glad to hear it” Kate waited for him to deposit the briefcase on a bench in the lab before looking around for Osgood. “McGillop?” she raised her voice a little, surprised that there didn’t seem to be anyone in the lab. They both heard a small cheer from an adjoining room and a few people clapping, looking at each other in confusion.

“Ma’am, Colonel” Osgood walked back into the lab and checked her watch. “Sorry, we weren’t expecting you yet” She nodded at a few of the other scientists exiting the room behind her and walked across to join them. 

“They called ahead, had a favourable tailwind apparently” Kate hung her jacket up and pulled on a spare lab coat. “Colonel, we’ll take it from here, thank you” she stuck both hands into the lab coat pockets and enjoyed how that felt after such a long time. 

“Ma’am, Miss” the Colonel nodded at Kate and left them to it, deciding that a walk around the top of the Tower would be an excellent excuse to catch the remaining heat of the day

“He’s never going to stop calling me that, is he?” Osgood sighed and moved to open the case. She looked at the pieces of the UFO that were carefully packed and discussed possible testing options with some of her team.

Kate stood back and watched them decide what tests to run first and could see their enthusiasm ratcheting up as opinions were flung back and forward. “Perhaps we could check the mass spec first?” she suggested quietly and was surprised when everyone else stopped talking and turned to look at her.

Osgood shook her head, the blonde really had no idea what effect her presence had on people, particularly when she wasn’t actually trying to be intimidating. “OK, I’ll work with the boss on the mass spec and the rest of you can split into teams, there are plenty of samples to go round” she helped apportion out the parts of the fuselage that had been recovered and eventually turned to Kate once everyone else had left them alone. “After you ma’am” she gestured towards the other room which held the mass spectrometer.

They both snapped on latex gloves before handling the small sample. “I’ll get the mass spec up and running if you prepare the sample” Osgood suggested and they set to work in relative silence, broken by the noise of Kate opening and closing drawers and cupboards. “Ready when you are” Osgood sat next to the blonde at the workbench and peered at the small target sample mount.

“Nearly there” Kate efficiently completed the fiddly bit and carefully carried it over to the large scanner. She opened the machine and placed the sample in the target area, stepping back to let Osgood look at the setup. “It’s been a while since I actually did this in anger, is that OK?” she asked quietly.

“Of course” Osgood looked up in surprise, Kate wasn’t usually uncertain of her abilities. “Like riding a bike” she winked and closed the machine cover, pressing the buttons to begin the scan and snapping off the gloves once it was set. 

Kate logged the test setup she’d used and signed her initials, smiling slightly as she tried to remember the last time she’d done that. “Thank you for letting me help today, it gets tiresome being a desk jockey” she admitted quietly.

“Of course ma’am” Osgood smiled and saw Kate’s confusion. “This is technically your lab after all” she shrugged and stepped around Kate to deal with the colleague who had stepped into the room. She read the results handed to her and shrugged. “Can you take a look at this for us?” she passed the papers to Kate and waited for her to put her glasses back on. “More your area of expertise” she smiled and left the blonde with the young technician, although she wasn’t sure who looked more worried at the prospect of her leaving them together.

Several hours later the team of scientists were sitting around the large table in the meeting room, laughing as Osgood covered her eyes and groaned. “It was my first week on the job” she protested. Although she was secretly delighted that the team had finally relaxed around Kate, as she had around them, she wasn’t entirely sure she was happy that this seemed to mean that they were all enjoying teasing her. “I hadn’t read all of the files and I didn’t know that their secretions made you glow in the dark!”

Kate laughed with the rest of the team “Honestly I think the Alpha Centauri delegation was more scared of a glowing Osgood than all of our weapons that were pointed at them” she winked at Osgood and was relieved to see a smirk along with the inevitable blush.

“It took a month for me to stop glowing” Osgood complained good-naturedly. “Hopefully I’ll stop being used a threat to naughty children on Alpha Centauri sometime soon as well”

The results came back on several tests around the same time and the teams all reconvened around the table. Kate carefully relayed the results of the mass spectrometry test and sat back, listening to the other teams discuss the outcomes. “Sounds like the antibiotic properties are definitely what’s causing it to remain pristine in the North Sea” Osgood looked around the table and saw several people nodding in agreement. She turned to Kate, “What’s the next step ma’am?” 

Kate was surprised by the question and ordered her thoughts for several seconds before leaning on the table. “Let’s get our tame professors at the Immunology labs in Oxford to see how they can adapt this for clinical use” she watched as several people typed notes as she paused. “Then we need the materials scientists here and in Edinburgh to figure out whether any of this can be used by us in the field” she looked towards Osgood and gestured with her hand that she could continue.

“I was thinking that maybe it could be adapted as some kind of armour?” Osgood suggested and several minutes were taken up with various team members throwing ideas around.

Kate watched with pride and a sense of relaxation. This was what she wanted UNIT to be focussed on. She knew that protecting the planet regularly meant weapons and threats but it was just as important to learn from their visitors, intentional or otherwise, and grow their knowledge. You never knew when something you learned from an old artifact would come in useful during an invasion. “OK, I need to get back to my boring paperwork” she smiled as the meeting wound down and everyone gathered notes and papers to return to their own workstations. “Osgood, you’ll keep me informed?”

“Ma’am” Osgood nodded and turned back to finish her conversation with her colleagues.

Kate sadly took off the lab coat, feeling a little ridiculous that dressing like a scientist made her feel closer to her core skills. She wandered back to her office and asked her assistant to find the Colonel and have him join her at his convenience.

“You asked to see me ma’am?” he knocked on her open door thirty minutes later. 

“It wasn’t urgent if you’re busy?” she sat back in her chair and gestured him into the office.

“Nothing that can’t wait” he assured her and sat down.

“The recovered samples gave us enough to confirm the theory” she started, watching in some amusement as he looked nervous that she was about to explain something scientific to him. “We’ll probably need to recover the rest of the vessel and store it somewhere, any ideas where we have space?”

He tried to picture the size of the UFO from the part that he’d seen “Do we need to keep it intact?”

“I shouldn’t think so, not like we want to fly it anywhere” she smiled at him.

“There are some old decommissioned air force bases in the north of Scotland, lots of empty aircraft hangars and underground control rooms” he suggested.

“Tiptop, can you pull together a plan on how we excavate it and we’ll get whatever help we need from HM’s Navy” she picked up her pen and pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“Ma’am” he left the office and headed towards Osgood’s lab. “Miss?” he asked as he found her staring at her monitor.

“Colonel” she smiled at him. “What can I do for you?”

“Ms. Stewart wants the UFO recovered, did you ever figure out the size of it?” he asked.

“Em, yes we did, that shouldn’t be a problem” she opened a folder on her desktop and emailed him the file he needed. “You’ll probably need to blast some of it out, it hit the seabed quite hard when it crashed”

“We’ll use the wind farm as a cover, get it out and then stick some big windmills on top of the site” he smiled at her and headed back to his office to begin planning.


	9. Aberdeen & Norfolk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're nearly at the end, I painted myself into a corner on this one so the next couple of chapters will see me tiptoe gently across a newly painted floor to deliver our heroes safely to the other side.....or that's the plan anyway!

“I honestly didn’t think I’d need to be here again” Kate sighed and stuck her hands in her coat pockets to stop it flapping in the strong wind.

“At least we’re staying on dry land this time” Osgood tried to be positive but she had hoped to be spending Friday night with Kate and a bottle of wine, not stuck on an Aberdeen dockside.

Kate didn’t reply, just sighed again and looked around at the vehicles and personnel who were running around. “We are not staying in that bloody hotel again” she turned towards Osgood and said quietly. “I’ll requisition another bloody jet if this one breaks down”

Osgood chuckled “It wasn’t that bad, the bed was quite comfortable”

“The towels were tiny” Kate was moving into full-on grumpy mode now.

“I noticed” Osgood smiled at the happy memory.

“Os, you’re not helping” Kate turned towards a soldier who gave her a status report before running back towards his colleagues. “I wanted to take you out for dinner and then ply you with drink back at my place”

“Why on earth would you need to get me drunk?” Osgood looked at her in astonishment.

“Ah” Kate looked embarrassed and hoped that they’d be interrupted again, without any luck. “Well I was planning on asking you to move in with me again” she admitted sheepishly.

“You ask me once a week” Osgood pointed out, amused by what had become a Friday evening ritual now.

“I was going to be particularly persuasive” Kate had leaned closer to her ear but took a step back as another soldier moved towards them. “Jones?” she asked, all business again.

“They’re ready for you both, ma’am” he turned and jogged back towards the others.

Osgood let Kate walk ahead of her, the inhaler working its magic on her fast, shallow breaths. She didn’t even look at the blonde as they both stopped at the back of a large truck. “After you” she gestured for Kate to climb in ahead of her and looked around the milling soldiers to avoid being caught staring at her arse. “Thanks” she mumbled as a soldier reached down to help her up into the truck as well. “Wow,” she said as the lid of a large crate was lifted to show a glowing crystal. 

“That was the only one?” Kate kept her hands in her pockets, experience teaching her that her body’s natural curiosity that would have her reaching out to touch the crystal would probably lead to mayhem and disaster.

“Yes ma’am, we checked the vessel and the surrounding seafloor” the soldier assured her as he placed the lid of the crate behind him.

“Power source?” Kate turned to see Osgood using a small handheld device to scan the crystal.

“Mmmm” Osgood agreed and looked up when the readings had steadied. “Almost spent but it would have powered our entire fleet for years when it was fully charged” 

“Haven’t seen a blue one before” Kate mused as she motioned for the lid to be replaced on the crate. “You want it at the Tower?”

“Let’s send it to the Cardiff base” Osgood smiled at the soldier who helped her get back down from the truck. “The power sources always end up there and the team are more familiar with them”

“Why would we send power sources to sit on top of the rift?” Kate wasn’t disagreeing with Osgood, just genuinely confused.

“Because our rift experts are also our power source experts and the rift doesn’t seem to cause any issues with them” Osgood explained and looked around for the car that had been waiting for them.

“Captain Harkness did mention something about some special shielding they were working on when he was in charge” Kate tried to remember the exact conversation but it had been a long week and a particularly cold ending to a long day. She noticed that Osgood looked concerned, “Everything OK?” she checked as they walked across the puddled tarmac.

“Of course ma’am” the brunette answered distractedly.

Kate stopped walking and waited for Osgood to notice. “Try that again” she said, clearly not moving until she got a better answer.

“It’s stupid” Osgood mumbled and looked around to see if anyone had noticed them. 

“Tell me” Kate insisted.

“It’s Jack Harkness” Osgood blushed and hoped that the cold wind would be blamed for her reddened cheeks. “I don’t really like him” she admitted.

“Why on earth not, I thought he’d have been one of your favourites with everything he’s lived through and seen, never mind traveling with the Doctor” Kate was intrigued, Osgood rarely admitted to disliking anyone.

“He flirts with everyone” she blurted out, before looking down at her shoes. “I told you it was stupid” 

“Did he say something to you?” Kate felt a brief spark of her jealousy return before remembering that Jack may have flirted with Osgood but Osgood would never flirt back.

“No” Osgood sighed and threw her hands in the air. “I don’t like it when he flirts with you” she admitted through clenched teeth. 

Kate blinked several times, processing what Osgood was saying and trying to remember the occasions when they’d both met Jack. A brief memory surfaced of her deploying flirty banter to get information from him. “You have nothing to worry about, darling” she finally settled on sincerity rather than any of the twelve sarcastic replies she’d run through in her head. 

“Right, because intriguing, funny, smart, handsome aliens are definitely not your type” Osgood could hear herself but didn’t really know where these feelings were coming from.

Kate raised her eyebrows, genuinely surprised at the vehemence in the brunette’s voice. “I like intriguing, smart, funny and gorgeous people who happen to be you,” she said quietly, holding her hand up to stop any interruption. “Actually I love you, and only you” she used her level 10 piercing stare to make sure Osgood got the message.

“Stupid” the younger woman closed her eyes. “It's an irrational reaction and I’m sorry, I know you’d never be with someone like him”

“Only you” Kate reiterated and started walking towards their car again. “Come on, we can be home in time for Graham Norton if the pilot gets a move on”

Osgood settled into her seat, making sure the seat-belt was tightened and smiling at the young woman who brought her a bottle of water. The jet was taxying to the end of the runway before she’d even had a chance to notice that Kate wasn’t sitting in her usual seat across from her. “Stupid” she muttered under her breath and berated herself for being jealous. “Where did that all come from?” she rested her head in her hand and closed her eyes, trying to figure out when she’d first noticed that she wasn’t fangirling over Captain Harkness the way she expected to. The teams had met in Liverpool, Kate and Jack reaching an uneasy alliance to ensure that the rogue brain parasite that they’d been tracking wouldn’t infect anyone else. Jack had finally admitted to having had some history with the parasites and Kate had poured him a whisky and persuaded him to share his knowledge. They had both drunk several more glasses before the parasite was spotted attacking a football crowd and the light flirting and banter had immediately stopped as they had all rushed to the site. 

Kate returned from talking to the pilot and saw Osgood sitting with her head resting on her hand, her eyes closed and her lips moving quietly. “Os” she sat down across from the young woman and lightly touched her knee. “Are you OK?” she shook her head at the offer of a drink from the young steward.

Osgood shook her head and blinked several times before looking at Kate. “I’m fine, sorry” she rested her hand on top of Kate’s where she was rubbing her knee. “It’s been a long day, can we just ignore everything I’ve said for the past thirty minutes?” she didn’t believe that Kate would agree to this but it was worth a try.

“Not ignore, but forgive and forget until we get a proper chance to talk about it” Kate suggested and lifted Osgood’s hand to kiss her fingers. “We’ll do a hot landing and the car will take us straight home” she had asked the pilot that they get priority landing clearance and he had agreed to request it when they were closer to the private airfield. 

“Thank you” Osgood whispered and tightened her hold on Kate’s hand. “I really like it when you say we’re going home” she admitted.

“And I haven’t even started being particularly persuasive yet” Kate winked at her and sat back to put her seatbelt on.

*************************************************************

“Thank you, corporal, that’ll be all” Kate assured the especially eager young soldier. She turned and walked towards her front door, already open and with the light on in the hallway. “Os?” she hung her coat up and wandered into the living room, coming to a sudden stop as she saw that Osgood wasn’t alone. “Gordy?” she asked in surprise “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Lovely to see you too mum” the young man looked sheepish. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a visitor or I would have crashed at Rick’s”

“What?” Kate was properly flustered, trying to gauge how much she wanted to share with her son at the same time as not denying her relationship. One look at a very nervous brunette who was still wearing her coat was all it took to make her decision. “Osgood, this is my son Gordon, who still treats this place like a hotel when he misses the last bus” she walked further into the room. “Gordon, this is my girlfriend Osgood, brilliant scientist and the person whose permission you need to ask the next time you decide to drop in” She was rather pleased that she’d managed to get the introductions out of the way. “Wine?” she asked vaguely and headed for the kitchen.

Osgood watched her leave the room with incredulity. “Ehm” she turned back around when the young man cleared his throat. “Sorry” she shrugged, not sure what she was apologising for but defaulting to her usual reaction.

“No I’m sorry” he scratched the back of his neck. “Here, let me take your coat” he gallantly helped her out of her duffel coat and hung it in the hallway. “So do you work with mum?” he tried to break the ice, recognising that the young woman was probably as nervous as he was.

“Work, yes” Osgood licked her lips and sat on the edge of the chair. “It’s been a bit of a long day, to be honest” she finally decided on a relatively safe topic of conversation. 

“It usually is, I wasn’t surprised when the house was empty” he sat down on the other chair, glancing over his shoulder at the kitchen. “So…….girlfriend?” he raised an eyebrow in an expression so familiar that Osgood couldn’t help but smile. 

“I did suggest partner but she wasn’t having any of it” she had leaned forward to share the secret. 

“Dad will be surprised” he grinned and then realised that his joke was exactly the wrong thing to say as the blood drained from the young woman’s face. “No, I was pulling your leg” he put his hand out to stop her from getting up. 

“You’d better not have” Kate glowered at him as she appeared from the kitchen, walking quickly towards Osgood. “Inhaler?” she asked gently and retrieved it from her coat pocket on the nod of confirmation. “Make yourself useful” Kate knelt in front of the brunette, issuing orders over her shoulder. “Usual takeout place, tell them it’s our regular Friday order and get something for yourself” she handed him some cash. 

“I’m sorry mum, Osgood, I didn’t mean…” he stopped talking at the glare directed at him and shuffled around them to get his own coat. “I’ll be back in 20 minutes,” he said and left them to it.

“I’m OK” Osgood assured the blonde after the inhaler had worked. “Just a bit of a surprise, that’s all” she patted Kate’s hand. 

“Dinosaurs attacking us was a surprise, my idiot son is a nuisance” Kate mumbled and took her jacket off, rolling up her shirt sleeves before kicking her shoes under the coffee table and settling on the sofa. “C’mere” she waited for Osgood to look nervously at the front door before she sat beside her and slipped under her arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean for you two to meet like this” she ran her fingers across Osgood’s shoulders, ending up massaging her neck.

“Has he...did you….” Osgood frowned as she tried to figure out how to get the sentence out, Kate waiting patiently. “Did he know you dated women?” she finally managed quietly.

“I don’t think it’s ever come up at family gatherings,” Kate said dryly, closing her eyes as she pictured interminable parties and events where she’d have gladly faced down Cybermen rather than her in-laws.

“OK” Osgood wasn’t entirely sure how to react to the evening’s events. 

“He does now, though” Kate helpfully supplied and felt the groan from deep within the brunette’s body where it snuggled against her. “I may not have spent much time with him recently but he was brought up to treat everyone with respect and not to be judgemental” she kissed the top of Osgood’s head.

“I don’t doubt he has excellent manners but that wasn’t high tea at the Savoy” Osgood sighed, “He’s just found out that his mum has a much younger girlfriend”

“Hey, less of the ‘much younger’” Kate poked her in the ribs and was relieved to see a smile sliding across her face. “I’ll talk to him when he gets back” she promised and gently lifted Osgood’s chin with one finger, kissing her properly for the first time in a long time.

“Missed you” Osgood finally managed to pull back from the kiss, her left hand cupping Kate’s cheek. “Sorry I was weird with Gordy”

Kate leaned in for another kiss before leaning back and stretching. “Why don’t you go and have a bubble bath and I’ll explain all about my hot, sexy, amazing girlfriend when he gets back with dinner?”

“Kaaaaate” Osgood sneaked another kiss before standing up. “If you’d sent him to the other takeout place you could’ve had a bath with me” she tried to hide the grin but ended up laughing out loud at the groan from the blonde.

***********************************************

“Chopsticks?” he asked as he sorted out the boxes of food from the carrier bag. 

“Top drawer” she pointed to the other side of the kitchen.

“Girlfriend?” he asked in exactly the same tone of voice as he leaned back against the worktop, his arms crossed.

“She’s top drawer too” Kate smiled and then shrugged at the shake of his head. “Sorry” she turned and mimicked his stance, facing him across the kitchen. “We met at work and finally realised we had feelings for each other a few months ago” she licked her lips. “She’s a genius and brave and ridiculously enthusiastic about everything” she grinned at his sigh. “What do you want me to say, Gordy, it’s not like I could tell you I’m bisexual while I helped you revise for your biology exams at school” 

“You didn’t have to come out to me, mum” he huffed out his annoyance. “But you’re clearly serious and you’ve been together for months so why am I only meeting her now?”

“Oh” she was genuinely surprised and proud of his reaction. “We’ve been busy at work” she started before biting her lip and staring at the floor for several seconds. “Honestly, I’ve been falling hard and fast for her and I didn’t want to share our time with anyone else” she stared at him, trying to figure out how he’d react. “I’m sorry, I should have introduced you both weeks ago” she clenched her fists before releasing them along with the tension she was suddenly feeling. “Can we start again, have dinner together and just relax?” she waited for him to figure out his reaction before dropping her shoulders in relief as he nodded his agreement.

“I’ll plate everything up if you want to tell Osgood that dinner’s ready?” he ran his hand through his short hair.

Kate blew out a breath and walked towards him “Thank you” she hugged him.

“Hey, save the soppy stuff for your girlfriend” he teased but hugged her back before she headed upstairs.

“Os?” Kate gently knocked the bathroom door and pushed it open, surprised to find it steamy but empty. She moved towards the bedroom and slipped through the door to find the brunette staring out the window at the dark garden. “Love, are you OK?” she walked towards her and wrapped her arms around her waist, looking over her shoulder. “What are we looking at?”

“I was thinking,” Osgood said quietly, squeezing Kate’s arms against her abdomen. “Is Gordy OK?” she’d heard the front door open a while ago and then the voices in the kitchen. “I stayed up here to let you have some time” she turned and kissed the blonde’s chin. 

“Mmmm” Kate returned the kiss before stepping back and starting to change. “Turns out he’s a bit miffed that I haven’t introduced you before now” she heard the surprised huff behind her as she pulled on a pair of worn jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. 

“So he’s OK with me being….” Osgood gestured at her body, not really wanting to ask her girlfriend if her son was a homophobe.

“He’s fine with you being a woman and he’ll be fine with you wearing fleecy penguin pj’s” Kate stepped closer and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m starving” she muttered against Osgood’s lips and they both grinned and headed downstairs.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want wine or not?” he asked Osgood as she settled into a chair at the kitchen table. “Mum, your’s is over there” he indicated a large glass across from where Osgood was sitting.

“A small glass please” Osgood smiled nervously and managed a reassuring grin as Kate sat across from her and winked.

“Right, well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Osgood” Gordy toasted her with his glass of water. He frowned briefly before asking her “Is that a first name or a surname?” 

“Everyone calls me Osgood” she assured him.

“Well the Colonel calls you Miss and Captain Carter calls you Nicola, which I’ve never quite figured out” Kate looked confused as she remembered she’d never asked her about that.

Osgood ran her hand over her eyes as she groaned. “Remember that night in Aberdeen, when I gave you the black eye?” she watched Gordy’s reaction out of the corner of her eye, he had stopped his chopsticks halfway to his mouth and was looking between them both in shock. “Apparently Nicola Adams is a famous boxer” she shrugged.

“Olympic champion” Gordy grinned. “You really gave mum a black eye?”

Kate sat back and slowly ate her food, enjoying the interaction between two of her favourite people. Occasionally she was called upon to confirm a story that Osgood was telling him but mostly she was content to relax in her home. “Can we move to the sofa, my back is getting sore” she eventually asked, trying and failing to mask a yawn. “Sorry, been a long week” she apologised.

“You should have come home instead of coming to Aberdeen with me” Osgood admonished her before turning to explain to Gordy. “She’s been in Geneva and Madrid all week”

“Both of you go and relax, I’ll tidy up here” Gordy pushed them both out of the kitchen before rolling up his sleeves and starting on the washing up.

“He’s really sweet” Osgood whispered as she sat on a chair, watching Kate wince as she settled on the sofa. “Do you want some painkillers?” she asked quietly.

“No, just you” Kate patted the cushion beside her. 

Osgood looked towards the kitchen again before making her decision and moving to sit next to Kate. “Behave yourself” she pretended to warn off the older woman.

“Tea or coffee or more wine?” Gordy asked with a raised voice from the kitchen.

“Water for both of us please” Kate shouted back and rolled her shoulders. “I probably should have given Aberdeen a miss but it was a good excuse to leave Madrid early” she yawned again. “Sorry” 

“It’s OK, I knew what I was getting into, falling in love with an older woman” Osgood kissed her as an alternative to the inevitable response to her gentle teasing.

***************************************************************************

Kate sighed as she scrolled through another email on her phone, occasionally glancing up to make sure she wasn’t about to walk into anything. She was fairly sure that the soldiers walking with her would prevent anyone else from getting too close but she didn’t want to test their ability to remain implacable if she walked into a lamppost. As they reached the nondescript office building in central Madrid she dropped her phone into one pocket and her glasses into another, finally looking around to see how busy the city centre was.

“Ma’am” Josh met her at the door, holding it open for her. 

“Captain Carter” Kate walked past him, hands in her pockets and trying to keep her temper despite everything. “Not that I didn’t enjoy having my meeting with the MOD interrupted but I would quite like an explanation”

He looked nervous and noticed the local teams disappearing from the corridor like steam evaporating until it was only the two of them left. “Sorry about that ma’am” he started and made to walk further into the building.

“Captain!” Kate stayed where she was and waited for him to face her again. “Why am I here, again?” 

Josh tried not to make it obvious that his mouth was suddenly dry and was fairly sure it was the plastic skeleton that was keeping his knees from knocking. “The local government officials want to open the site” he was stalling for time, trying to decide which version of the truth he would tell her.

“And I told them that they couldn’t when I was here last week” Kate frowned. “What’s changed?”

“Well, you see, the thing is…” he squared his shoulders to prepare for the effect of what he was about to say. “I reminded them that you’d already told them that and they made some fairly, well, uncomplimentary comments that they thought I didn’t understand” he was in an at ease stance, although he did not feel at ease. “And I made it clear I didn’t think they should be saying those things about you unless they wanted another visit so that they could say it to you in person”

Kate waited for him to continue as she worked through the likely scenario. “So you were defending my honour and they called your bluff?” she asked wearily and rubbed her hand over her eyes when he coughed and nodded. “Bloody hell Josh” she sighed. “Who do I need to shout at now that I’m finished with you?” 

“The mayor is waiting in the conference room” he gestured to his left and waited for her to wave him on before he moved ahead of her. When he returned to London he would tell Colonel Shindi that he’d never understood the phrase “hairdryer treatment” until he’d seen the Mayor stand to try to intimidate Kate and she’d stood toe to toe with him and made it abundantly clear that she was the alpha in the room. When they were done she’d walked out and gone straight back to London, it had taken several brandies and two squaddies to help the Mayor to his car twenty minutes later.

**************************************************************************

Kate sat on her favourite bench, watching the tourists taking pictures of the Ravens and Yeoman Guards. Lifting her face to the weak sun she enjoyed the few moments of quiet. It had surprised everyone when one of the artifacts from Brazil had turned out to be some kind of alien musical instrument. At least that’s what they’d assumed it was while trying to figure out how to turn it off. “Four hours” she sighed and took a deep breath in, slowly letting it out with some of the tension. 

“Ms. Stewart?” the nervous voice from behind her meant she wasn’t on her lunch break anymore and she waved for them to come closer. “Sorry to disturb ma’am, but it’s stopped” McGillop was glancing around, trying to fake being a nonchalant tourist and failing dismally.

“OK” she sighed and dumped the remains of her lunch into a nearby bin. “Did you figure out what it was?” she asked as they walked side by side back to the side door.

“Not exactly” he nervously waited for both of their passes to clear them for entrance and felt a little better when he was back in the lab. “We think it just ran out of power” 

“So there wasn’t a mute button?” Kate carefully walked around the small pyramid-shaped artifact.

Osgood hadn’t heard them coming in, still wearing the earplugs that they’d all donned as soon as it became clear that the noise wasn’t stopping anytime soon. She aligned the third laser to make sure the table holding the pyramid was exactly in the centre, stepping back she was surprised when McGillop suddenly appeared beside her. “Malcolm!” she shouted, seeing him wince before realising what the problem was. She removed the earplugs and held her nose as she yawned, hearing her ears pop and the regular background noise of her lab suddenly returned to normal. “Sorry, you surprised me” she smiled at him.

“I had no idea McGillop was ninja trained” Kate managed the joke without a smile and watched Osgood grin and McGillop look nervous.

“I’m still not sure if it was music or some kind of signal” Osgood pointed at the innocuous-looking lump of metal. “The frequency wasn’t happening often enough to give clear harmonics” she waited for a question and looked up when there was silence. She saw Kate looking at her, the frown slowly deepening. “Sorry, it wasn’t musical enough”

“So it’ll be in the top 40 this week?” the sarcasm was Kate’s usual response to something she wasn’t entirely happy with.

McGillop laughed and then went to check on some readings as Osgood huffed. “Ma’am?” she typed a couple of lines before hitting enter on her laptop a little harder than strictly required. Kate had been out of sorts for a couple of weeks and Osgood was getting tired of making allowances for her.

“Sorry” Kate leaned back against one of the desks. 

“I need to run some tests” Osgood disconnected and carried her laptop out with her, locking the door as Kate followed her. “I should have a report for you in a couple of hours” she walked towards her office.

Kate sighed and watched Osgood walk off before heading back to her own office. She sat through an interminable meeting with the procurement team from the Ministry of Defence and almost wished she had worn her weapon to give them an incentive to speed up the process of ordering new equipment for her teams. Checking her watch she saw that she had just enough time to pop round to the nice coffee shop and get some takeout before heading to the labs for the outcome of Osgood’s tests. “Peace offering?” she carefully placed the large coffee in the centre of Osgood’s desk before standing back and sipping her own tea.

“Not necessary, but thanks” Osgood concentrated on the printouts she was flipping through before sitting back and taking her glasses off, running her hands over her face. “It doesn’t look like it was a signal” she put her glasses back on and was surprised to see Kate still standing on the other side of her desk. She motioned to a chair and waited for her to sit down and cross her legs before continuing. “We’ve talked to the team who handled it this morning and I’m fairly sure that it was a mobile phone in someone’s pocket” 

Kate looked confused “I thought you didn’t allow mobiles in the labs?”

“We don’t, and this is a perfect example of why” Osgood sighed, finally lifting the coffee and sipping it carefully. “Jane was placing the artifact on the table when her mobile rang and that seems to have triggered the response we all heard”

“What on earth was her ringtone if it provoked that god awful racket?” Kate rolled her shoulders, the day seemed long already and it was still only mid-afternoon.

“Ah” Osgood finally smiled and Kate felt some of the tension lift from her. “Turns out she has a Danish husband” she was going to try to take as long as she could before telling Kate what had happened, she was still a little annoyed at her reaction earlier.

“Osgood” Kate practically growled.

Osgood grinned and gave in “The ringtone for him calling her is spillemandsmusik” she sat back as if that was the obvious answer.

Kate slowly sipped the last of her tea before placing the cup on the floor and removing one or two pieces of lint that she found on her trouser leg. Finally, with her temper back under control, she looked up and stared at Osgood. “Do I need to beg?” she asked quietly.

“What?” Osgood looked confused then shocked. “Why……?”

“Just tell me, it’s been a really long day and the headache from that noise earlier isn’t going away anytime soon” 

Osgood swallowed “Sorry ma’am” she automatically replied before seeing Kate’s wince. “Spillemandsmusik is the oldest form of Danish folk music and Janet’s husband is a performer” she leaned on her desk. “It doesn’t sound anything like the noise the artifact made but the analysis shows that they share some basic tonal qualities that may have been enough to prompt the duet”

Kate frowned “Do we know if any of the other Brazilian artifacts will behave in the same way?” she didn’t want another morning of high pitched squeaking.

“No, I’m pretty sure that the output from that pyramid would have triggered anything else we hold here, we didn’t have them isolated sonically so they’d definitely have heard it” Osgood reassured her boss. “Listen, I’m sorry for being a bit off earlier” she tried to talk to her girlfriend as well.

“It’s OK, it was probably my fault, I seem to be having that effect on a lot of people lately” Kate replied, standing and lifting her empty cup. “I’ll let Geneva and Brazil know once you send me through the data” she ran her hand through her hair.

“I’ll send it now” Osgood was getting annoyed again but at herself this time. “Did you want to go out for dinner tonight?” she tried one more time to stop the cycle of grumpiness that they both seemed to be stuck in.

“I’m not really feeling up to going out, probably have an early night” Kate chewed her lip and stuck her free hand in her trouser pocket. “I saw Sam BIshop earlier, you could go out with him and get away from this place for a while?”

“I don’t want to have dinner with Sam, I’ll cook for you at home” the brunette was getting worried about Kate, she was looking paler than usual.

“I’ll grab a sandwich, not really feeling up to a big meal” Kate shrugged before closing her eyes. “I need to go to Madrid tomorrow, for a couple of days, so an early night would be best”

“OK” Osgood knew there was no point in pushing the blonde any further, she’d try again later when they were at home. “I’ll see you later then” she returned to her paperwork and didn’t look up until she heard the door softly close as Kate left.

******************************************************

Kate lay sprawled out on her sofa, a large tumbler of whisky untouched and held on her stomach as she stared at the ceiling. She’d been getting more and more tense over the past few weeks and she couldn’t identify the cause. She could identify the fallout though, she was getting more sarcastic and short-tempered at work and that was pissing off most of her bosses in Geneva and quite a few of the people under her command. That normally wouldn’t bother her but the fact that Osgood was caught in the middle of it was causing Kate an almost physical pain. She needed to figure out what was bugging her and resolve it before she pushed Osgood even further away. “It was after Gordy joined us for dinner that night” Kate frowned as she tried to remember the first time she’d felt like this. “But why would that bother me, it was an enjoyable night and Gordy and Os seemed to get on fine after the rocky start” Kate slowly worked through the hours and days after that Friday night and started to see a pattern forming.

Osgood arrived at Kate’s a couple of hours later, quietly opening the door and hanging up her coat in case Kate was asleep. She peered around the living room and was surprised to see that the room had been tidied and cleaned recently. Wandering through to the kitchen she stopped in the doorway to watch Kate bending over to put something into the over. “Kate?” she whispered, not wanting to surprise her girlfriend.

“Os” Kate grinned and dumped the oven gloves on the table, walking towards Osgood and engulfing her in a hug. “I’m glad you’re home,” she said before capturing the brunette’s lips and indulging in a deep, slow kiss. “Hi” she smiled at the dazed woman in her arms as she pulled back finally.

Osgood took her glasses off and pulled her back down for another kiss, reveling in the feeling of a renewed connection. “What brought that on?” she husked when she released the blonde’s mouth, keeping her arms around her.

“I can’t kiss my gorgeous girlfriend?” Kate asked quietly.

“You absolutely can, you just haven’t, not recently and not like that anyway” Osgood raised her eyebrows. “Are you OK?”

“I am now” Kate bit her lip, causing Osgood to groan and pull her in for another kiss. “I missed you” she finally managed to take a step or two back. “Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, why don’t you get changed and we can catch up then?”

“Turn the oven down and come with me to catch up” Osgood suggested, surprised by the force of her need to get Kate into bed. 

“Os!” Kate laughed and took another step back. “I’d rather explain what I’ve figured out over dinner and then you can have your wicked and delightful way with me”

Osgood frowned but headed upstairs anyway, having a quick shower and changing into her pajamas. She stood looking at herself in the bedroom mirror, remembering doing the same thing in Finland after they’d first kissed but before they’d gone any further. She hardly recognised herself now, she was more assured and confident than she’d ever been in her life and it was almost entirely down to finding someone who understood her and was willing to share her secretive, dangerous, glorious life. A slow smile built on her face and she undid another button on her pajama top.

Kate plated the steamed vegetables along with the chicken casserole and carefully set a plate in front of the younger woman. “Wine?” she asked and poured them both sparkling water on Osgood’s shake of the head. “To us” she toasted and clinked the top of her glass against Osgood’s.

“What on earth happened to you this afternoon?” Osgood asked after sipping her water and taking a first bite of the food. “Mmmmm this is lovely” she spoke around a hot mouthful as she dug into the dinner.

“I had an epiphany” Kate announced and then smiled at the snort from her girlfriend. 

“And this epiphany made you hoover for the first time in over a month and make dinner?” Osgood laughed and caught the napkin that Kate threw at her. “Sorry, tell me what happened”

Kate couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed, she was still on a high from her earlier musings. “I was lying on the sofa, fed up and about to drink a very large tumbler of whisky when I realised what has been worrying me for the past month” she ate some of her dinner and sipped some water before continuing. “After you and Gordy met I knew that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with” she said simply, continuing to eat.

Osgood was stunned by the simplicity of what Kate said and how matter of fact she was about it. “And that made you grumpy and a pain in everyone’s arse?” Osgood asked, completely confused.

Kate went to answer and then closed her mouth, thinking back over the past week or two. “Well I may have jumped to the end and missed out some of my confusion, which probably caused the grumpiness” she admitted.

“Start at the beginning” Osgood advised.

“You met Gordy and it wasn’t ideal but he was annoyed that I hadn’t introduced you before then” Kate started, finishing her last bite of chicken before sitting back and sipping her water. “I told him that I wanted you all to myself and that was true, to some extent” she waited to see if Osgood would interrupt and was glad that the younger woman seemed content to let her continue. “When you both got on and I looked at you joking with him I realised that I had never been happier and that my dreams were coming true” she cleared her throat of some of the emotion.

“Oh” Osgood frowned, trying to jump ahead to the part where this made Kate grumpy.

“Anyway, thoughts of that nature inevitably led me to wait for the other shoe to drop,” she said quietly. “I was prepared to blow up London with a nuclear device Os, I’ve killed aliens and ordered others to kill even more” she bit her lip, her eyes straying to the tabletop to avoid Osgood. “I’ve ordered others to their death and even knowing all of that I’d do the same tomorrow if I had to”

“That’s why you’re the best person in the world for the job you do” Osgood reached across and laid her hand, palm up, on the table, letting Kate decide whether to complete the connection. “You’ve turned a covert military operation into a covert scientific operation that uses weapons sparingly and only when all other avenues have failed” she grasped Kate’s hand when it rested on her own. “You don’t think you deserve happiness?” 

“No” Kate shook her head. “I may not watch many movies but even I know that the character who finally finds happiness is usually the next one to have a piano fall on them” she licked her lips. “If that was going to happen to me I wanted you to be far enough away to avoid being collateral damage but I was also weak and wanted to keep you close” she admitted.

“You don’t get to choose anymore” Osgood stood and walked around the table, pulling Kate out of her chair and leading them both back to the sofa. “I choose you, every time” she pulled the blonde down beside her. “Even if we’re standing in front of Silurians or Daleks or Cybermen, I’ll be beside you”

“I know” Kate smiled and kissed her gently, pulling back before they were sidetracked. “Which is what I figured out this afternoon” the smile turned into a full-blown grin. “Everyone keeps worrying about how quiet we’ve been lately and what the next invasion will be and I realised that I was doing exactly the same instead of loving you every day that we have together, however many that may be” her left hand cupped Osgood’s cheek, thumb following the line of her jaw. 

They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Osgood licked her lips and ventured one last question. “And all of that made you want to hoover?”

“Shut up and kiss me” Kate grinned, hoping she could keep Osgood occupied enough that she wouldn’t notice the slowly drying whisky stain in the carpet.

****************************************************

“We haven’t done that for a while” Osgood gasped as they lay next to each other in bed an hour later.

“I was inspired,” Kate said huskily, that last shout had left her throat feeling a little raw. “I’m sorry I’ve been distracted” she lay on her side, pulling Osgood into a hug and dragging the quilt from the bottom of the bed.

“I think your apology was accepted when you did that thing with your tongue” the brunette grinned and pulled Kate on top of her again.

Four hours later the sky was still dark outside and the only sounds came from a fox wandering through the back garden. Kate was the first to react when her mobile phone rang, although the groan was enough to wake Osgood as well. “Stewart” she growled, rolling over to switch on the bedside light and wincing at the sudden illumination. “We’ll be ready for a pickup in 30 minutes,” she said tersely after listening to the duty sergeant.

Osgood was rubbing sleep out of her eyes and squinting at her watch to see the time. “What’s wrong?” she asked groggily.

“Intruder at the Norfolk explosion site, apparently refusing to say anything to anyone but me” Kate sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, scratching her scalp.

“Human?” the brunette asked with a yawn as she stood up and headed for the shower.

“Far as they know” Kate raised her voice a little to be heard over the sound of the water. “I’ll make us some coffee for the journey” she called out and headed for the kitchen.

“I just remembered, you told them we’d be ready for pickup” Osgood suddenly popped out from under the towel she was using to dry her hair.

“We still have 5 minutes” Kate muttered as she pulled on her jeans and sorted through her wardrobe for a warm sweater.

“No, I mean you told them we’d be ready” she stressed the collective description for both of them. “I think you just outed us” she was worried that Kate had said it without thinking through the consequences.

“Darling” Kate finished lacing her boots. “Even the Ravens know that we’re together” she kissed Osgood’s nose and took the towel from her hand. “Now finish getting ready, the car will be here soon”

Osgood sat in the back seat and sipped her coffee. She had to admit that the streets of London were beautiful in the middle of the night, although she’d rather be wrapped around Kate in bed. Her mind wandered to memories of just how wrapped up in each other they’d been and she didn’t notice the change of scenery until the car stopped and she was jolted back to awareness. “That was quick” she tried to cover her embarrassment.

“Time flies” Kate smiled at her, knowing from the look on the younger woman’s face where her mind had been. “Let’s get this sorted out as soon as possible and we can get back to that warm bed” she had said it quietly enough that only Osgood heard.

“Kate, Kate Stewart!” a familiar voice shouted her name and Kate groaned in recognition.

“Jacquie McGee” she stopped a few feet away from where the journalist was sitting on a tree stump, handcuffed and surrounded by armed guards. “Why am I in Norfolk in the middle of the night?” she saw Osgood lead one of the soldiers to the side and begin explaining who their captive was.

“You tell me” the Scottish woman was trying to keep up her usual arrogant tone but she was really cold and the tree stump was particularly uncomfortable.

“Take her to the Tower, we’ll interrogate her tomorrow or the day after” Kate instructed and turned to walk back to her car.

“Wait, Kate” Jacquie tried to stand but was reminded of her lack of options when the soldier behind her shoved her back down. “Please” she finally said, her voice sounding almost defeated.

“Talk” Kate returned to stand in front of her. 

“One of my sources said there had been some mysterious military activity up here a couple of months ago so I headed up and took a look around” she took a breath to continue, only to be interrupted.

“Is there a point in there somewhere?” Kate pulled her jacket tighter around her body, it was getting cold now that they were just hanging around in a field.

“I just knew it was your lot so I’ve been back a few times and couldn’t find much until I stumbled across this clearing” Jacquie pointed to a small rucksack sitting beside the soldier who was closest to her.

Osgood glanced at Kate and saw the nod to give her permission to see what was inside it. Just as she went to open it Kate stepped forward and put her hand out. “Wait” she kept her hand on top of Osgood’s on the front strap. “If this is a trap I will put you in the dampest, coldest dungeon and lose your paperwork for several months” 

Jacquie looked surprised and then suspicious “Why would I get myself caught and handcuffed and have hypothermia just to set off a booby trap that I’d be caught in too?” she asked, not unreasonably.

Kate glared at her once more for good measure before stepping back and letting Osgood carefully open the bag. She removed several lumps of metal and lay them on the ground, turning them round to get an idea of whether they would all fit together. After several seconds Jacquie huffed “I thought you were supposed to be the expert” she scowled at Osgood and realised this may have been a tactical error as the soldiers guarding her flicked off the safety catches on their weapons and Kate took two rapid steps to be in front of her and between her and Osgood.

“Put the artifacts back in the bag,” Kate said brusquely. “You two get her ready for transport in the oldest, most uncomfortable vehicle you have with you” she leaned down even closer to the journalist who was looking genuinely bewildered. “You have run out of free passes with UNIT Ms. McGee, we’ll test the artifacts and conduct our interrogation tomorrow”

“But wait, there may be more” the journalist was still trying to explain that she was helping by finding strange things on their behalf. “And I’m a member of the press”

She never finished her planned impassioned plea about a free press working alongside a secret government organisation. “Have Captain Carter out here again first thing in the morning, he told us he’d swept the area last time so let’s see if he can do it properly this time” Kate turned and stalked back towards her warm car.

“You really didn’t have to overreact when she criticised me” Osgood murmured quietly when she caught up with Kate. 

“I think protecting the integrity of the UNIT scientific teams as the best of the best is one of my jobs and she undermines you at every turn” Kate tried to make it sound as if she was merely being a noble boss. “And I still haven’t forgiven her for abandoning you in the truck outside Devlin Future Tech” she took a deep breath.

Osgood kept her head down, letting Kate stew on her own for most of the journey. “Are we going to the Tower?” she asked as they hit the outskirts of London. Kate nodded but remained quiet and Osgood passed the time watching the speeding car in front of them as it swept through an awakening London, blue light flashing but not encountering much traffic.

“Take her to my office, keep her under guard,” Kate told the senior officer accompanying them. She followed Osgood and the backpack to the brunette’s lab, staying out of the way as several members of the team laid out the metal fragments. 

“Check the bag as well, remember she sneaked a tracking device past us once before” Osgood waited until one of her team carried the bag off before concentrating on the fragments. “These aren’t from the explosion,” she said quietly, knowing that Kate was still there and was focussed on what she was doing. Looking around she made eye contact and it took several seconds before Kate pushed off of the wall she was leaning against to walk towards her. “See, these haven’t been expelled from an explosion, they’re not scorched or cracked from heat exposure” she pointed to several of the fragments.

“Why would Jacquie try to pass off fake artifacts?” Kate mused. “She knows I’ll wipe her memory if she sees something she shouldn’t while she’s here”

“Maybe she isn’t the faker?” Osgood suggested, snapping off gloves and walking towards her office. “Perhaps someone else knows she’s connected to us and is using that to get access?”

“She’s not connected, just occasionally useful” Kate growled and crossed her arms. “Let me go and talk to her, see what she knows”

“I’ll let you know if we find anything,” Osgood said as she sat behind her desk and switched on her monitor.

“What’s going on?” Jacquie asked, mollified that she wasn’t in a dungeon but still a bit miffed that she warranted a sullen armed guard while sitting in the nondescript office. “Is this really your office?” she looked around.

“Yes, why?” Kate hung up her coat and sat behind her desk, nodding to the guard to leave them, knowing that he’d only go as far as the other side of the door.

“You’re the head of this place, don’t you get fancier digs?” the Scottish woman shrugged which reminded her of the handcuffs. “Can we lose these please?” she lifted her wrists.

“No” Kate sat back, keeping eye contact. “Where did you get those lumps of metal?”

“I told you, they were lying around near that clearing” she slouched in her seat, it had been a long day and the office wasn’t heating her up very much.

“No, they weren’t, at least not a couple of months ago” Kate assured her, despite her earlier annoyance she knew that Josh wouldn’t have missed these during the clear-up operation. “Someone wanted you to find something that looked a bit alien so that you’d call us”

“Why?” Jacquie asked, her mind whirring as she tried to work out the angles.

“Who told you about that place?” Kate asked and raised an index finger to interrupt the response. “I don’t want to hear that your sources are anonymous, you got us out of bed in the middle of the night and I want to punish someone for that so it’s either your sources or you”

Jacquie cocked her head to the side as she shut her mouth with an audible click. “Who is ‘us’” she made awkward air quotes. Kate looked confused so she risked explaining further. “You said ‘you got us out of bed’” 

“Never mind” Kate would have kicked herself if she hadn’t known that Jacquie would see it as a weakness she could exploit. “Who told you?”

Jacquie weighed up her options and decided that her source had duped her and left her to take the brunt of whatever they were planning. She looked around and pointed at the small handbag that had been left on the table near the door. “In there, my notebook, there’s a number under the name John Smith” she screwed up her face. “Honestly it was such a rubbish fake name that I didn’t think I’d get anywhere but…..” she trailed off as Kate looked confused.

“Did you speak to him?” she asked softly.

“Of course, sounded older and a bit Scottish” she smiled. “It was nice to hear a decent accent for a change”

Kate sighed and walked to the door. “Can you remove the handcuffs and escort Ms. McGee to the canteen for some hot food” she waited for the soldier to remove the restraints before handing over the handbag. “Get something to eat and try to heat up a bit, we’ll talk again later”

“You can’t just make that inscrutable face and leave me out of the next bit” the Scottish woman complained but her voice got quieter as she was ‘escorted’ down the corridor.

“Os?” Kate walked into the lab and looked around, finding the brunette peering down a telescope at one of the benches. “Quick word?” she didn’t wait for an answer, just turned and walked to Osgood’s office.

“Ma’am,” Osgood said quietly, recording the last readings she’d taken before handing the test over to someone else to complete. “What did she say?”

“Her source was an older Scottish bloke called John Smith” Kate sighed and stretched, causing quite a lot of skin to appear around her midriff.

“The Doctor?” Osgood looked confused before becoming diverted by the alluring sight of the blonde running her fingers through her hair. 

“It seems so, any idea what he’s up to?” Kate asked, stifling a yawn.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Osgood shrugged one shoulder as if it was the obvious answer. 

“Honestly, I’m tired and cold and not really in the mood to deal with him right now but I suppose it would be better to get it over with” Kate moved to Osgood, pulling her into a hug and depositing a quick kiss on the top of her head. “I’m so tired Os, will we ever get to take a break from all of this?”

Osgood was surprised to hear the exhaustion in Kate’s voice, not just because of their rude awakening but she sounded genuinely weary in a way the younger woman hadn’t heard in a long time. “Fish and chips on the beach as soon as we can bunk off from work” she tried to get Kate to smile.

“Perfect” the blonde sighed and squeezed Osgood one more time before taking a step back and sitting down behind her desk. “Is it OK if I call him from here?” she checked and patted several pockets before pulling her reading glasses out and scrolling through the contacts on her secure mobile. “Here goes” she winked and sat back, crossing her legs and listening to the strange clicks and whirrs that she associated with the call she’d made to him once before.

“Brigadier, is that you?” the voice sounded quite far away and Kate immediately remembered the time when they’d nearly dumped the Doctor out of the Tardis. “Sorry” the Doctor huffed out, “Couldn’t find where I’d left the cordless phone”

Kate stared at the handset and looked up at Osgood, completely bewildered. “Can I speak to the Doctor, please?” she barely remembered her manners. Osgood was perched on the edge of her desk, close enough to hear the person at the other end of the call, and she shrugged to indicate that she didn’t recognise the voice either.

“Kate?” the person sounded as if they had settled down, the background noises fading out. “Katie it’s me” 

Kate blinked several times and opened her mouth to speak once, but no sound came out. Osgood frowned in confusion before reaching forward and taking the handset from her. “Doctor?” she asked.

“Is that you, Yes?” the Doctor was enjoying the day considerably more now that the library was back where it should be and two of their favourite humans were on the phone, although only one was sort of talking. “Everything OK, you’re not getting invaded again are you?” 

“It’s not really our fault…” Osgood began a spirited defence of her planet. “Not the point, anyway, sorry” she caught herself. “You’ve changed again?”  


“Ah yes” they could both picture the Time Lord looking down at their new body. “Quite a big change this time around”

“It would seem so” Kate had put the phone on speaker and raised an eyebrow in question in case Osgood wanted to add anything.

“Humanoid?” Osgood started generically.

“Arms and legs, well two of each actually…..” a brief pause as this conjecture was verified. “Yes, and kidneys seem to be working a lot better this time”

“Female?” Osgood felt that she was on a roll, given the auditory evidence.

“Em” more muffled clothing noises as the phone was clearly put down. Kate stifled a groan and rested her head in her hands. “Yes!” the voice sounded very loud and quite surprised. 

“Ginger?” Osgood bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud as Kate glared at her through her fingers.

“Hang on a mo’” there was more clattering and banging before a sad sigh. “No, still not ginger” 

Kate let the two unlikely friends continue with the ridiculous conversation for several minutes before bringing them both back to the point of her call. “I did actually call for a reason” she interrupted.

“Cybermen or Daleks?” the Doctor tried to adopt a businesslike tone as Osgood mouthed ‘sorry’ to her girlfriend.

“Neither, that I know of” Kate stretched her neck on both sides, wincing slightly at the crunching of the vertebrae. “We had a poor attempt at an invasion a few months ago and they destroyed one of their ships as they tried to escape” she started. “Os is sending you the details on it now” she raised an eyebrow and grinned a little evilly as the younger woman frantically typed on her laptop to send the message.

“Right, let me take a look” the Doctor hummed tunelessly for several minutes. “Bit unnecessary” they heard muttered.

“They were trying to invade and we didn’t fire on them to cause the explosion” Kate was being defensive now.

“No, I was meaning them” the Gallifreyan huffed. “Usually they just kidnap a few people for the sport of it before moving onto somewhere else, you’re not very good as prey” she helpfully explained to the sudden silence. “Osgood?” she frowned, turning several dials to see if the signal had been lost.

Osgood swallowed and cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly dry. “We’re still here,” she said, watching the blonde race through several responses to what they’d just heard.

“Why didn’t they just abduct some rednecks this time around?” Kate finally asked, deciding to leave the kidnapping and hunting discussion for another day. 

“It could be…..” they heard a dial being turned and some crunching noises then silence. “Yes, it looks like they were targeting someone specific this time” 

“So they were kidnapping to order?” Kate frowned “In a field in Norfolk?” she didn’t think that was a very likely place to mount an attack on someone of influence.

“It doesn’t look like their engines caused the explosion” there was a loud squeaking sound from the Tardis and the Doctor sighed dramatically. “I’m still not used to the new chairs”

Osgood looked confused and ignored the interior design discussion. “So if it wasn’t their engines that caused the massive power feedback, what was it?”

“They were trying to use an Alteran transport device, always a bit tricky if you don’t have the power conduits aligned exactly” the Doctor was about to explain exactly what needed to be done to make the ‘kidnap from a distance’ machine work when Osgood interrupted.

“What’s the range of something like that?” she asked nervously, adding two and two and getting a very troublesome four.

“A few hundred yards at a guess” she tried to remember the last time she’d actually seen one working. 

“It was you” Osgood surmised and watched Kate get to the same point as her. “You were the target” Osgood stood up and waved Kate out of her chair, pulling the keyboard closer and typing quickly.

“Ah, yes, that makes sense” the Doctor agreed.

“Or you” Kate suggested, rather more worried about Osgood being the target of galactic people procurers than herself.

“Oh now you may have a point there” the Doctor agreed, quickly checking the data that Osgood had sent through again.

The Doctor and Osgood typed and pushed buttons and cranked levers. “It may even have been Colonel Shindi or Captain Carter” Kate suggested, using her access on another computer on Osgood’s desk to pull up the mission report. The final page showed a rough guide to where everyone was standing when the ship exploded. “I was here with the alpha troop, telling the captain of the largest ship to bugger off” she pointed at the screen, only belatedly realising that neither Os nor the Doctor could see it.

Osgood looked up and tutted, moving to a locked cabinet and pulling out what looked like an old box brownie camera. Setting it on top of the bookcase behind Kate she switched it on and returned to her own laptop. “You should be able to see what Kate’s looking at now” she absentmindedly informed the Doctor, already running traces on any recent contacts that may want to kidnap Kate.

“You’re looking well, Kate,” the Doctor said softly and Kate felt a slight flush as a female complimented her, even if it was someone who remembered her in nappies. “Ah I see, so you were there and where was Osgood?”

Kate shifted in her seat to provide a view of the entire screen in front of her. “She was in a helicopter monitoring the neutralisers we were positioning around the site to contain them” she slipped her reading glasses on to scan down the report. “Looks like she was over in the southeastern quadrant when the explosion occurred, so quite a bit further away than I was”

Osgood glanced up as her queries started searching the records “The Colonel was in the helicopter with me and Josh was covering the northern end where they’d blocked off entry via road.”

“Then it was definitely you Kate” the Doctor sighed again. “What have you been up to, who have you annoyed?”

“My bosses, son and girlfriend” Kate sat back and rolled her neck.

“Girlfriend?” the Doctor seemed to pick up the phone at their end and obviously sat down on the squeaky chair again. “Did you lure a planetary warlord’s princess away, you sly old dog”

Kate let the laughter from Osgood and the Doctor subside before looking straight into the box brownie camera. “I don’t lure, I’m not interested in anyone else’s significant other, I don’t think a princess would waste two seconds on me and I am Greyhound 1, not an old dog!”

There was a tense silence until Osgood cleared her throat “It would be a bit easier if we could see you, can you patch through a video link from the Tardis?” she asked and pinged some protocols to the Tardis systems. “OK, coming through now”

“Definitely not a grumpy old man, huh?” the blonde waved at the camera from inside a very green Tardis control room. “There’s still some residual regeneration energy so the hair may change in a day or so” she ran her hands through the short blonde hair.

“This will cheer the archivist up” Kate suggested and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Doctor” she sketched a brief salute.

Osgood sat on the arm of Kate’s chair and leaned against her. “Kate and I are together now,” she said and waved at the old camera.

“Yes, I can see you both” the blonde fiddled with some buttons and then took a step back. 

“Os means we’re ‘together’” Kate made the dreaded air quotes hoping that this incarnation wouldn’t be quite so annoyed by them. “I don’t know why I was targeted but it definitely wasn’t because of my love life” she wrapped an arm around Osgood’s waist and waited to see what the Doctor would do next.

“Even if it was a failed kidnap attempt” Osgood suddenly noticed the part of the story that didn’t quite fit. “Why would you dump fake artifacts in a field and organise some nonsense with Jacquie McGee to uncover it?”

“Ah well” the Doctor look sheepishly at her shoes. “The last regeneration was a bit touch and go, wasn’t sure I wanted to get to the end of it” she shuddered and remembered the days of refusing to regenerate before meeting her first incarnation. “I knew I didn’t have much time to get a message to you and I didn’t want you to know I was………..” she stared off into space.

“We’ll always want to know,” Kate said softly, feeling Osgood catch hold of her hand and grip it tightly. 

The Doctor looked at them closely and continued deep in thought for several more seconds before nodding and throwing back a fairly decent salute to seal the deal. “I need to find someone who has enough money to hire idiots to kidnap you but not enough sense to know that I’d come looking for them” she winked at them. “I knew the reporter would get your attention and you’d figure it all out eventually”

“Can you let us know if you find out anything, or if there are going to be any other attempts?” Kate suggested. At the nod from within the Tardis, she smiled “Thank you, madam president”

“Oooooh I like the sound of that” The Doctor hopped excitedly and the Tardis appeared to glow a slightly brighter green. “Even Sexy likes it” she patted the console affectionately.

“Are you alone?” Osgood asked quietly.

“Bill decided to travel the universe with someone else, better fringe benefits apparently” she shrugged. “I’ve been busy sorting out the Tardis to get everything where I want it but now that’s done I’ll take a look at this for you” 

“See if you can find some traveling companions in the meantime and remember to let us know who they are” Kate reminded the Doctor, as she did every time. “It’s easier knowing who’s on our side”

“I’ll get back to you, maybe pop over for a visit” the Tardis proximity alarm pinged. “I need to go, take care of her for me Yes” she shouted as the signal failed.

“Well that was unexpected” Osgood suggested, perfectly happy to remain sitting almost on Kate’s knee. 

“Unexpected is sort of expected with the Doctor” Kate smiled and laid her head against Osgood’s shoulder. “I hope she finds some companions soon”

“Looking like that, she’ll have plenty of volunteers to choose from” Osgood suggested. “Oooft what was that for?” she rubbed her stomach where Kate had just back-handed her.

“Just make sure you don’t volunteer, you do seem to be susceptible to older blondes” Kate rose and kissed the top of Osgood’s head.


	10. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than previous chapters but it ended up saying what I wanted it to :)
> 
> Thanks for staying with this one, I haven't part-posted fic before now and it's quite stressful to have a chapter fight back when you know people are waiting for an update!

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose and waited for the armed escort to clear her driveway before the armoured car was allowed to park near her front door. “I may have mentioned this before…….” she started to say.

“But you hate this much security” Osgood finished on her behalf and waited semi-patiently for her car door to be opened. She’d only tried getting out of the car herself once, the resultant melee had persuaded her that the armed soldiers had enough on their plate without her moving around unexpectedly.

“Sorry” Kate closed her eyes, the headache was getting more insistent and she needed a very large whisky. “Did you ever figure out how I could drink whisky in the shower?” she suddenly asked.

“Most likely successful outcome would be with a baby sippy cup” Osgood was unfazed by the non-sequitur. “You complained that it would taste strange from a plastic container”

“I did?” Kate vaguely remembered a theoretical discussion some weeks ago but not the outcome. “To be fair, it would affect the taste but the thought of a power shower on my neck right now makes it almost worthwhile”

Osgood watched their driver trying to pretend he wasn’t hearing any of this. She caught his eyes in the rearview mirror and shrugged apologetically while Kate still had her eyes closed. “We’ll be cleared to get indoors soon” she patted Kate’s thigh and hoped that any further shower related revelations were saved until they were alone.

“Ma’am” Josh held the door open for Kate, ducking down and looking inside as she failed to exit. “Can I help with something?” he asked quietly, glancing at the driver over the passenger seat and seeing him shake his head once. “Once you’re both inside we’ll clear the visible security and nobody will see us” he offered.

“Whatever you need to do Captain Carter” Kate gathered herself, opening her eyes and wincing slightly as the daylight hit them. “Thank the team, we made good time this evening” she reached back for her messenger bag before following Osgood inside the front door. She didn’t even glance back as the door was closed and locked from the outside, the mechanical gates of the locks being engaged joined with a low-frequency hum indicating the perimeter alarm had also been set.

“Shower or dinner first?” Osgood asked, placing two duffel bags at the side of the stairs.

“Shower” Kate groaned and dumped her bag on the table, hanging her scarf and coat on her usual hook and slowly plodding upstairs. “Join me?” she couldn’t turn her head to see Osgood but knew she was behind her.

“I’ll unpack these and then we’ll see if you feel any better” Osgood offered, concerned that a headache was lasting so long today. They had become a frequent occurrence since the Doctor had confirmed that the Graske was responsible for the attempted kidnap. Their plan to return a replica Kate shortly after she was taken had backfired, literally.

“Do you need me to clear some more space?” Kate asked as she watched Osgood carefully unpack the clothes from her bags. “I should build a sweater and bow tie cupboard” she tried some levity as she dumped her own clothes on the floor.

“Says the woman with more shoes than Imelda Marcos” Os smiled softly, stowing her clothes on various shelves and drawers around the room. “I’m a guest, I should be using the wardrobe and drawers in the guest room”

“Too tired to argue” Kate grumped and headed for the en-suite bathroom. Turning on the shower she glared at herself in the mirror above the sink for several seconds, until it steamed up. “I need to get to a hairdresser” she muttered before stepping under the warm water. Fiddling about with the buttons and dials she finally managed to get the showerhead to pulse against her solid neck muscles. “Oh that feels good” she sighed as she leaned against the tiles, feeling the muscles loosen slowly under the onslaught of the powerful jets.

“I’m getting jealous of that thing” Osgood gently stepped up behind Kate, kissing her shoulder blade and resting her hands on her hips. “You moan and squirm for the shower more than you do for me these days” she grinned and slid her hands around Kate’s waist.

“It’s your own fault” Kate reached back to hold the brunette’s thigh “You gizmoed the shower to make it irresistible” she could feel the tension headache ease as her muscles relaxed further. “I’d have been drinking a half bottle of whisky a day without this…...and you” she hoped her girlfriend hadn’t picked up on the slight hesitation.

“Uh huh” Osgood squirted shower gel into her hand and gently rubbed across the blonde’s back. “It’s good to know I come second to a decent water pump” she nibbled the edge of Kate’s shoulder as her hands slid round to spread lather across her stomach.

“Sorry love” Kate took a deep breath in and turned slowly in the brunette’s arms. “How on earth do you put up with me?”

Osgood leaned to one side to avoid the shower spray before kissing Kate. “I’d put up with you on any planet or moon or spaceship or…” she was cut off by several slow, deep kisses.

They had managed to finish up in the shower and were drying off in the bedroom. “I could murder a pizza but I guess a delivery is not going to happen” Kate sighed.

“I could ask Josh to pick something up for us if you really want?” Osgood pulled a sweater over her head before cleaning her glasses and heading downstairs.

“I honestly think I want one because I know I can’t have it” Kate pulled the leftovers from the previous evening’s homemade curry and reheated it as Osgood sorted out plates and cutlery for them. They were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying the peace and quiet with the food when both of their mobiles began vibrating and ringing at the same time. “Stewart” she answered her phone and pushed back from the table to hear what was being said.

“Osgood” she answered her phone and confirmed that she was with Greyhound 1 and would get an update from her. She walked towards the living room, shrugging her shoulders when Kate turned to look at her.

“I’m putting you on speaker Josh” Kate held the phone between them. “So the Tardis proximity alarm went off and you’ve heard nothing since?” she confirmed what she knew so far.

“Yes ma’am” Josh was obviously walking quickly towards a group of people as the background noise increased. “I’m just getting back to the Tower now and everything looks secure”

“I’ll get Os to check in with her team and we’ll see what we can figure out from here” she nodded as Osgood headed towards their bags from earlier, setting up both laptops on the coffee table. “If we need to get back to the Tower can you get a team back here to extract us?”

“They’re already working on a plan but we’d rather you both sit tight until we know more, ma’am” Carter walked through the latest security checkpoint and stopped just before he got to the next group of soldiers. “I’ll let the Colonel know that you’re both safe and working on it from your location”

“Thank you, Josh, have the Colonel call me if there are any further updates” Kate didn’t wait for his reply before hanging up the call. “Did we get any messages that the Doctor was expected?” she checked with the brunette.

Os pushed her glasses up her nose and scanned through several different email accounts and message boards. “Nope, but that’s never stopped him before” she sighed.

“Her” Kate muttered and scrolled through emails on her phone. “Let’s give it five minutes to see what your team can get from the scans and then I’ll call her if we don’t know anymore”

“Ma’am” Osgood didn’t even notice when she used Kate’s title or the blonde’s smile and shake of her head in response. She continued to message with her team and gather data from the latest attempt by the Tardis to materialise inside the Tower. “Ah, you might want to see this,” she said quietly several minutes later, moving along the sofa as Kate sat next to her.

“We’re transcribing this from the Space-Time Telegraph?” she confirmed and continued reading the message.

 _“Just tell Katie and Yes that I’ve had a quiet word and the Graske have promised not to try to kidnap any UNIT people for the next 100 earth years”_ Kate and Osgood looked at each other in surprise before returning to read the rest of the message. _“I hope you’re still getting messages on this old thing”_ they could both imagine the Doctor banging the microphone in the Tardis at this point. _“I didn’t try to land in the Black Archive this time, you must have increased the dampening field though, I couldn’t even land on the roof”_ they could both imagine the indignant tone of voice that would have delivered that message as well.

Osgood typed for several minutes, relaying their response to the message and got a nod from Kate once it was done. “So does this mean we aren’t on lockdown anymore? she sat back to wait for any further messages.

Kate crossed her legs stretching her neck before resting her head on the back of the sofa. “I think so” she sounded almost disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” Osgood moved to the end of the sofa, turning her back to the arm and facing Kate with a puzzled look.

“I know it’s because of the safehouse protocol but I have enjoyed having you move in, one bag at a time,” Kate said quietly, embarrassed to admit it. “I’m also quite annoyed that it took the Graske trying to kidnap and replace me to get you to agree to live with me”

“Kate” Osgood took hold of the blonde’s hand where it stretched along the back of the sofa. “You are an idiot sometimes” she tried not to laugh.

“That’s Brigadier Idiot to you, young lady” Kate raised one eyebrow and rolled her head to throw a pretend glare in Osgood’s direction.

“Yes ma’am” Osgood smiled. “I do love you” she kissed the back of Kate’s hand shuffled forwards to kiss her properly. “I was going to wait but I think we both need some good news”

Kate looked confused and sat up from the slouch she’d fallen into. “Good news?”

“Mmmm” Osgood leaned to the side of the sofa and rummaged around in her laptop bag. “I had lunch with Gordy last week before all of this started” she pulled an envelope out of the bag and sat it in her lap, waiting for Kate’s eyes to come back up to her own again.

“You did?” Kate tried to remember if she’d missed a lunch appointment with them.

“I needed to make sure he was OK with us being together,” the brunette said quietly. “He said he couldn’t remember seeing you this happy for years”

“I doubt he’s ever seen me this happy” Kate’s eyes crinkled at the edges as she looked adoringly at her girlfriend. “Why did you think he wouldn’t be OK with us, did he say something?”

“No” Osgood didn’t want Kate to doubt her son. “He’s been really sweet ever since we met, even if that was a bit of a disaster” she scowled at the memory of that night a few weeks ago. 

“Sorry” Kate doubted she’d ever be forgiven for nonchalantly introducing her sexual preference and girlfriend in the same sentence, before leaving them to it and hiding in the kitchen.

“It’s alright, I’ve forgiven you” Osgood stroked the back of her hand. “But it will be used for teasing purposes for the rest of your life” she warned with a smile.

“Fair enough” the blonde shrugged in acquiescence. 

“I had this idea to try and pull you out of the foul mood you were in and I wanted to do it properly” Osgood was clearly halfway through a conversation in her head because she saw Kate looking confused. “Let me get this out in one go and then you can tell me your answer”

Kate’s eyebrows raised, that sounded suspiciously like Osgood was about to propose. Her stomach dropped and she tried to keep the disappointment from her face, preparing herself to pretend to be delighted when the question was asked.

“I’m not proposing” Osgood realised how her last sentence sounded and quickly reassured her girlfriend. “I mean I’m not opposed to getting married, in theory, but….” she was well on the way to an Olympic standard ramble.

“Os, it’s OK, I feel the same” Kate took both of her hands in her own. “We’ve a bit to go yet before we start making those decisions” she assured her. “Just tell me what’s going on in that magnificent head of yours”

Osgood blew out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. “OK” she nodded and freed one hand to resettle her glasses before picking up the envelope. “I know you need a break, we both do, and I also know that there’s no way my boss will let me take time off at the same time as you” she winked at Kate.

“Very true” Kate nodded solemnly before squeezing Osgood’s hand.

“I thought back to the times when we’ve been happiest since we both admitted how we felt about each other” she coughed nervously before handing the envelope to Kate and waiting till she took it from her. “I’ve never really spent very much money and you do pay me very well” she knew she was waffling now and tried to get back on track. “So I bought us a place near the sea, where we can spend time eating fish and chips but we’re close enough to London to get back in a hurry if we’re needed”

Kate had taken the envelope but kept her eyes on the brunette while she explained what she’d done. When it was obvious that she’d run out of words Kate opened the envelope and took out the title deeds for a property between Brighton and Saltdean on the south coast. “You bought this?” she asked. “Os you can’t pay this much, we could have bought it together” she had seen the price that the young woman had paid.

“I already did, you can pay the cleaning lady and gardener if you like” Osgood was firm but pleased that Kate hadn’t dismissed the idea completely. “We can be there in a couple of hours if the traffic isn’t too bad and there’s some beautiful walks along the cliffs and beach”

Kate was tempted to read the entire document but realised that this wasn’t the time. “You did this for us?” she felt the smile beginning and let it grow into a full-blown grin. “Because I was in a grumpy mood you bought us a flat?”

“Well I was also thinking about the longer term investment potential” Osgood tried to keep a straight face but failed dismally when faced with the happy blonde. “I want to move in here as well, we can live here during the week and spend time on the coast at the weekends, aliens permitting” 

“You really want to move in here as well?” Kate had reached out to cup the brunette’s face. “I’m sorry for saying you were only here because of the Graske”

“This is why we need a bolthole, you are an idiot when you’re tired and grumpy” Osgood expected a mild rebuke and was unprepared when Kate suddenly turned on the sofa and kissed her. 

“I love you, Os” Kate mumbled when she pulled back from the kiss several minutes later. She remained stretched out on Osgood, resting her weight on her forearms as she dropped small kisses across her eyes and down her nose. 

“Mmmm” Osgood groaned in agreement and rested her hands on Kate’s lower back. She was content to remain like this for as long as Kate’s back would allow but they were both startled when her laptop pinged with an incoming message. “Let me get this and then we can continue this upstairs” she whispered and stole another kiss before Kate moved off of her.

 _“I didn’t blow up their planet, I just asked them nicely!”_ they read as their reply came back from earlier. _“The 100 years thing isn’t a problem, it was only Kate they were after and I doubt you’ll still be around then”_ Osgood winced at the bluntness but couldn’t disagree. _“I’m working on why they wanted Kate, might take some time because there’s a bit of a rumpus with some Skullions that I need to sort out first”_

“So it looks like we’re safe enough for now” Kate picked up her phone to call the Tower. “Patch me through to Colonel Shindi please” she stood and wandered to the window, trying to spot the armed guards she knew were surrounding the property. “Colonel, did you see the message from the Doctor?” she listened as Shindi confirmed he’d read the same message. “So we can cancel the safehouse protocol and get the security detail back to the Tower?” she had framed it as a question but he wasn’t fooled. “Thank you Vikram, we won’t be leaving the house this evening” she assured him.

“So if we can’t go out, what did you want to do?” Osgood had shut down her laptop and picked the title deeds up from where they’d fallen when Kate had pounced on her earlier.

“We’re smart women, we can figure something out” Kate heard the cars leaving from outside the house but was concentrating entirely on the younger woman who was walking towards her. “Last one in bed buys the ice creams on Saturday” she grinned and dodged around Osgood to run upstairs.


End file.
